


You Know You're Not the Only One

by Ambivalence_Forevermore



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Depressed Charles, Depressed Erik, Drug Use, Erik Lehnsherr is not a Happy Bunny, F/M, Forgiveness, Gen, Guilt, Hank is Too Good for This World, Heavy Angst, Hurt Charles, Hurt/Comfort, I Will Go Down With This Ship, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Not Canon Compliant, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, Post X-Men: First Class, Post-Cuba, Rated T because Lisa swears like a sailor, Slow Burn, Vietnam War Doesn't Happen in This
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2020-11-23 00:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20883149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambivalence_Forevermore/pseuds/Ambivalence_Forevermore
Summary: After the Cuba Beach Scene, Charles returns to his school and Erik takes Raven and the brotherhood. Soon though, members of the Brotherhood begin to mysteriously vanish until finally only Erik, Raven, and Azazel are left. With nowhere left to turn, they travel to Westchester to seek refuge from their mysterious hunter.Meanwhile...Ever since returning to Westchester Charles has rarely left his room, and has relied mostly on Hank, Alex, and others to run his steadily growing school for him. Missing the girl who was like a sister to him and longing for Erik, he suddenly senses three familiar minds within the vicinity of Westchester. With all the mutants living under the same roof once more, will they be able to heal after all that's happened?





	1. Castles Crumbling

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I know these kinds of fics went out of style, like, three years ago, but I just really wanted to write this. this is my first work for this fandom, so please tell me what you think!

This was not how it was supposed to go at all. Shaw, the beach, all of it was wrong. It was all wrong. Raven wasn’t sure when it had gone wrong, only that she didn't think there’d be any fixing it. The last thing she saw before they teleported away was Moira kneeling by Charles. Charles who could realistically bleed out on that beach in Cuba, his last memory of his little sister being of her leaving him for Erik. 

When they had teleported back to the Brotherhood’s base, there had been nothing but silence. Shaw’s team was too shocked by the turn of events and new leadership to say anything, and Erik and Raven were too horrified to do much. Raven regretted leaving the second she arrived, but she knew there would be no turning back. When not on missions she spent her time locked away in her rooms staring out at the world beyond her window. She never replied when spoken to, and soon even Eri gave up trying to coax her out of her shell. She always did what he demanded on the field and she didn’t question him so he had nothing to complain about.

While Raven was sulky and withdrawn Erik became restless and volatile, each day brings a new mood which could shift hourly. Breaking out Emma Frost was the result of one of these reckless mood swings. No one could tell whether he regretted it later, and everyone was too afraid to ask. Life under Erik’s sporadic leadership was unpredictable at best, and absolute chaos at it’s lowest points. He seemed to be driven by a mass of constantly shifting emotions. Sometimes he would angrily demand an attack on a human research lab, and other times he’d e withdrawn and sad. He would stare blankly at his chessboard and wander listlessly. 

There were no killings ordered on those days.

Given the problematic at best setup they had, it wasn’t all that surprising when it began to go wrong. 

Angel was the first to be taken. Emma tried to find her with her telepathy, but it proved hopeless. Erik was furious, but Raven knew he was just trying to mask his fear. Everyone could sense it was all falling apart. While Erik possessed the rage to rally an army and drive the brotherhood forward, he lacked Shaw’s leadership. Jantos was next. Now things were beginning to get serious. Emma was much more frantic in her searching as she had known him for so much longer. Still, she found nothing. 

Raven searched like all the others, but she knew they wouldn’t find anything that could help them find either of their missing mutants. She knew the same thing when they lost Emma. Now it was just Raven, Erik, and Azazel. 

That had been a year ago, and nothing had changed except their venue. The three mutants never spent more than a night in one place, Azazel taking them all around the world in an attempt to stay ahead of whatever it was the haunted their footsteps. They all knew it was no life, and Erik was barely holding together.

“Erik, we can’t keep this up,” Raven finally said. The rain was lashing at the windows of the cheap motel they were in, and a steady dripping noise confirmed Raven’s suspicions that the roof was leaking in at least one place.

“Whatever took the others will be coming for us as well, we have no choice,” Azazel said gruffly. He had been far less sociable since Janos was taken, and Raven felt bad for him. It was hard losing someone so close to you. 

“We could fight,” Raven said. “I thought that’s what this was about, Erik. I thought we were supposed to be standing up to the threats, not running like dogs-”

“Fightings not an option anymore!” Erik yelled, slamming his hands down on the table. The metal in the roo trembled in anticipation and both Raven and Azazel took a step back. Erik was breathing hard, and Raven couldn’t tell if he was about to yell or cry. She honestly wasn’t sure which would be worse.

“Whoever it is that wants us for whatever reason is too strong for us to top. They managed to hide from Emma’s telepathy and have managed to follow Azazel's teleporting,” Erik said in a softer tone. “This is our only option.” Raven was silent for a moment before looking up.

“It’s not our only option,” she said softly. Erik’s head snapped up and Raven was scared she’d pushed too far. 

“No. We can’t-”

“Yes, Erik, we can. We need to at least try,” Raven said firmly. Azazel watched the exchange in confusion. He wasn’t sure where it was Raven wanted to go, but he tended to see her as the more level-headed out of the two mutants, and so he figured it was a good idea.

“Erik, Raven is right. At this point, we are repeating places, and this much teleporting with so many people so long distance is draining. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up,” he admitted. “I don’t know where it is Raven wants to go, but it can’t be worse than this,” he said. 

Erik glared at the two mutants before letting his head hang and sighing. 

“Fine. We will go to the damn school. But if he turns us away, don’t be surprised,” Erik ground out. Raven nodded. She had tried to figure out how Charles was doing whenever they were nearby. She knew that his school was going well. Not as big as he’d hoped, but there would be time for it to grow. He’d recruited more mutants, and teachers. No one had seen him in public since Cuba though, and Raven couldn’t help but wonder about that. Perhaps he hadn’t made it off of the beach. Had his dying wish was for Hank and the others to continue the school in his absence? Or perhaps they were only pretending he was still there as a shield against the rest of the world. Against her and Erik. Claiming to have the most powerful telepath in the world on your side was a good security system. 

~

Hank was in his lab when felt a tug on the back of his mind. With a worried sigh, he quickly put down the planes he was working on for a jet and hurried up the stairs to the professor’s room. He waved to various students as he went, Alex and Sean gave him worried looks as he passed, both knowing that he rarely left his lab unless it was to teach a class or help Charles, and he didn't have any classes that day. 

“Hey, everything alright?” Sean asked. 

“I’m not sure, I just know that he needs something. He didn’t say what,” Hank explained. Sean nodded.

“Well tell him that we’re having a big pizza night to celebrate the end of the first term if he wants to come down for dinner.”

Hank nodded sadly and continued up the stairs. Both parties knew that Charles would not be accepting the invitation.

Ever since Cuba, Hank had been trying to help Charles in any way he could. He made solutions for the pain and was working on a way for him to regain his ability to walk. Still, Charles had improved very little during the past year. If anything he was getting worse. His hair was nearly at his chin now and he rarely left his room. Hank couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen the professor smile. 

“Professor?” Hank asked, slowly opening the door to Charles’ room. 

“Hello, Hank,” Charles said from where he was sitting in bed, books piled around him. He didn’t seem to be in any pain, which both relieved and confused Hank. 

“Charles, what’s going on?” the scientist asked tentatively. Perhaps Charles had called ut to Hank accidentally. Hank had a sneaking suspicion that Charles had been taking a bit more pain medicine than necessary, and so the theory was entirely possible. He knew that he’d need to talk to Charles about it, but he just didn’t know how to broach the subject. 

“Don’t worry, I assure you I am quite well. My state is not why I called you here,” the professor said. 

“Well, that’s… good,” Hank said carefully, knowing that he was on new ground. 

“Three mutants are currently five miles out from the school. They are coming here now,” Charles reported. Hank looked up at that. 

“Well, that’s great! Do you think they heard about the school? I can get the applications ready now if you’d like-” 

“No,” Charles interrupted. Hank furrowed his brow. Charles looked even more worn out than usual, he observed. “No, they are not coming here for the school. They’re coming because we are there last chance of shelter,” he said. Hank was now very confused. 

“Charles… who’s coming?” Hank asked, beginning to feel uneasy at the professor's pained expression. Charles sighed. 

“Raven, Azazel, and Erik.”


	2. Our Strange Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik and company arrives, Charles is depressed and confused, and Hank is a gift to the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you will be able to tell by this chapter, this story is going to be a sloth-level slow-burn. it's my first attempt at real slow-burn, so let me know if I'm doing okay, or if I can improve o anything. Enjoy!

Raven regretted teaming up with Azazel against Erik almost immediately. Erik didn’t talk to either of them for the rest of the night, and when he finally did it was only short, gruff, phrases. Azazel was too drained to teleport them all the way to Westchester, and so they were forced to travel the human way. Raven created a whole new facade to try and stay undercover and had stolen at least two hundred dollars worth of makeup and clothing to disguise Erik. Azazel would be proved a lot harder to disguise, and so they eventually decided on a large hat, popped collar, fake beard, and scraggly wig. It wasn't perfect, but it would work. 

Now they were only about five miles out from Westchester, and so far they had run into no problems other than their paranoia and lingering guilt from Cuba. it was dusk and Raven was driving a stolen car with Erik and Azazel pouting in the back. Well, Erik was pouting. Azazel was just looking forlornly out the window. 

“About five more minutes,” Raven said, breaking the tense silence. Azazel nodded and Erik just shifted restlessly, the only indication that he had heard her. 

“Erik, will you sit up,” Raven said impatiently. He shot her a glare but pulled himself out of the slouch he’d fallen into at the beginning of the ride and uncrossed his arms. 

“What do we do with this?” Azazel asked, gesturing to the heap of wigs and clothing that they had taken off the second they were safely within the tinted windows of their stollen ride. Raven shrugged.

“Just leave t for now. We can burn it later. Westchester’s old so there’s a fireplace in basically every room.” Erik scoffed, and Raven’s mouth tightened. They were all worried about how they would be received, but Erik didn’t seem to think that they would even be allowed back into the house. A small part of her wondered if he was right, but she pushed it down. No matter what happened, Charles was still basically her brother, and if she knew anything about him, it was that he wouldn’t leave anyone to suffer. No matter what they had done to deserve it. Raven glanced back at her watch.

“Three more minutes.”

~

Hank paced nervously in front of the entrance to Westchester. Charles had been quite clear with his directions: Let Erik, Raven, and Azazel in and bring them to the back rooms by Charles’ personal library. Students rarely went there, so there wouldn’t be much fuss with it being closed down. They were not to be treated as criminals. So long as they remained courteous to Hank and the others, then Hank and the others were to remain courteous to them. Hank shook his head in frustration. If it were up to him, He’d let Raven in, punch Erik, and leave him and Azazel to whatever enemy was hunting them. Charles had been clear though. They were not allowed anywhere near the students though. That he had been adamant about. 

“Hank, what the Hell is going on? I can hear your feet tapping from the library!” a voice said in annoyance. Hank looked up to see Alex and a woman a few years younger then himself standing at the top of the stairs. Her hair was a brownish-purple, and her eyes glittered a similar color. It had been her that had spoken. 

“Sorry Lisa, just have a lot on my mind,” he said. Lisa Dorian had joined the school not long after Cuba. Her abilities were based around force and energy. If someone were to fire a bullet at her, she could absorb the force and send it right back at them, turning a light tap into a bullet powered attack. The same went for energy blasts. She took it in through her body and fired it back through her hands.

“What’s up?” Alex asked, walking down the stairs to join Hank. The scientist sighed. He had been prepared for this, but he just didn't want to have to tell them so soon. 

“Charles says that Erik, Azazel, and Raven are coming here.” The effect was immediate. Alex tensed, eyes narrowing and face twisting into a snarl. Lisa’s fists clenched and began to glow with fuschia light. 

“How long do we have?” Alex asked. “I can alert the others that we’re under attack, and Peter can evacuate the younger students-

“No,” Hank said, signing into his hands. “Charles says they’re coming for shelter. They’re being hunted by someone and this is their last resort. We’re to let them stay in the back rooms by Charles’ library,” he explained. He watched as their expressions shifted from anger to shock. 

“What! Why?” Lisa demanded. 

“No idea,” Hank responded. 

“It’s Charles, of course, he’s letting them stay,” Alex said. “I mean he took all of us in. He’d never let a stray be left out in the cold, no matter their sins.” 

“How long do we have?” Lisa ground out. 

“Three minutes,” Hank replied. Alex closed his eyes and swore. Lisa looked livid, and Hank really wished that Charles were there to calm her. He had within her a temper to rival Erik’s, and Hank was praying that the two never met or he doubted the manner would remain standing. 

“Why don’t you guys just go back and enjoy the pizza, I can handle this-” 

“And leave you alone with those three? Not likely,” Alex exclaimed. Hank’s shoulders slumped in defeat as he knew there was no way he was going to be able to convince the other two mutants to go back to the party. 

“Fine, but only you two-” he began, only to be cut off at the sound of Sean’s voice.

“Hey, guys, what’s going on?” 

“Erik and his groupies are coming here and Charles is letting them stay,” Lisa said, making Hank squeezed his eyes shut in exasperation. Sean looked terrified for a brief second before composing himself.

“Well then I’m in,” he said. 

“No, you are going back to the party and-” Hank tried to speak again only to be cut off once more. 

“Uh, Hank?” Alex said. “I don’t think that’s one of ours,” he said, pointing out the window at the unfamiliar car pulling up to the house. They all silenced themselves as the driver door opened and Raven stepped out, looking around before changing into her natural form. When Azazel stepped out of the car next, Alex stabbed closer to Hank and Sean fit himself between him and Lisa. 

“Shit, that him?” Lisa asked when Erik exited last. She took their silence as confirmation. The group seemed to discuss something quickly, Erik and raven having what looked to be a quick argument which Raven won before walking slowly towards the door. Raven walked up the path with confidence and purpose, the qualities that Hank had always admired about her. Azazel looked nervous but followed her nonetheless. Erik was last, and he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. He actually looked quite bad, Hank observed. He felt a small tag of satisfaction at the broken appearance of the other man but quickly pushed it down. 

“What do we do?” Sean asked nervously. His eyes widened even further when Raven knocked on the wooden door. Hank took a deep breath before stepping forward and pulling it open. 

Raven stared at Hank in surprise, not expecting to have seen him on the other side of the door. She supposed it was only logical given that the last time she checked, he was completely loyal to Charles and the school. Still, it was a shock to see him after so long. 

“Hank. Hey,” she finally said. 

“Raven,” Hank greeted, pulling the door open further. “The professor told us you were coming, so we got rooms ready for you,” he said. Azazel nodded awkwardly to him and stepped in behind Raven. Erik looked around warily, eyes settling on the assembled mutants behind Hank for a moment before angling to the ground. 

“So Charles knows why we’re here?” Raven asked. Hank nodded stiffly. 

“He said that you can stay as long as you need. You’ll be in the back bedrooms near his library as not to disturb classes, and you are under no condition to disturb the students. That was the one thing he was perfectly clear about,” Hank explained. 

“Where is he? Charles,” Raven asked, looking around. Hank and Alex shared a look, and Erik’s eyes narrowed. 

“He’s currently resting,” Hank said. Raven’s brow furrowed in worry, but she didn’t push any further. She could tell that rushing now wouldn’t get her anywhere, and might end up getting them kicked ou. If she knew Charles, then he was monitoring everything that was going on in case a fight broke out.

“I doubt you’ll be seeing much of him,” Lisa said, and Erik’s eyes snapped to her. “He really comes down,” she commented icily. Hank shot her a warning look, and she glared at him for a moment before nodding to Alex and Sean and heading back to the pizza party a few rooms beyond. 

“Right… so I guess you wanna see your rooms?” Alex said in an attempt to defuse the situation. It worked, but only slightly.

“Yeah, you guys must be tired,” Sean agreed. “Come on, they’re up here.” The remaining members of the Brotherhood let Sean, Alex, and Hank lead them up the stairs and through the maze of hallways. 

“So, the school’s a success I take it?” Raven asked Hank. 

“Yeah, we’ve got about fifteen students now that board here, and a few that come and go depending on where they are,” he said proudly. The school was as much his accomplishment as it was Charles’, and he took pride in how well it was coming along. 

“Charles must be happy,” Raven said, clearly trying to get a feel of what was going on with the elusive telepath. 

“Yeah, I think he is,” Hank agreed. Charles hadn’t given him any instructions as to what he was supposed to tell them about his condition. He didn’t know how much Erik or Raven knew about what had happened after Cuba. He had a feeling that they weren’t even aware of the wheelchair. 

“Alright, you guys are in here. We figured you’d be hungry so we got extra pizza,” Alex said, gesturing to three rooms. 

“It’s an end of term party, so there’s plenty of pizza,” Sean added. He had been very excited about the meal choice. Raven nodded her thanks. 

“So… see you in the morning?” she asked. Hank nodded. With that he, Sean, and Alex and headed back down the hall, leaving the brotherhood to get their bearings. 

“See? I told you he'd let us stay,” Raven said hollowly, all her exhaustion washing over her. Azazel nodded. 

“Erik?” she asked tentatively. Said mutant had not moved since they had arrived, his eyes boring holes into the opposite wall. 

“What,” he replied flatly. Raven hesitated. 

“Are you alright?” she asked. Erik shot her a glare. 

“What kind of question is that? I am currently hiding in the home of my enemy,” he hissed and Raven took a step back. Her expression of shock soon turned into an angry frown. 

“Your enemy?” she asked incredulously, a bit of hysteria entering her tone. “Erik, he is the only person on the planet that is willing to help you, and now he’s your enemy? Did you see that purple-haired girl down there? The way she looked at us and how she treated us? That’s how we deserve to be seen by these people, and yet she’s the only one doing it. Why do you think that is, huh? Because Charles told them to play nice. This is far more than we deserve from him, so I should think that you can stop your pouting for a whole minute and appreciate it!” she growled. Erik’s only reply was to push past her as he strode into his room. 

~

Charles stared blankly at the ceiling, his book lying forgotten to his lap. As Raven had guessed, he had been listening to their surface thoughts during the meeting between the groups. As he had expected, things had been tense. What he hadn’t been expecting was Erik’s silence, or the rush he felt at feeling the other man’s mind within his reach once more. 

He looked at the door when he heard a knock.

“Yes?” he called. The door pushed open to reveal Sean and Lisa with a box of pizza. 

“We, ugh, we thought you might be hungry,” Sean said. “Logan saved you a few pieces for us to bring up. He says that given what he had to go through to save it for you, you’d better eat every damn bite. His words, not mine,” Sean said. 

“Thank you,” Charles said, already knowing that he wouldn’t eat anything that night. From the tight looks on Sean and Lisa’s faces, they knew as well. 

“Erik and his posse arrived,” Lisa said, setting down the pizza box at the foot of the bed. 

“I am aware,” Charles said stiffly. 

“So, what are you going to do?” Lisa asked. Charles sighed and shrugged uncommitted. 

“Well you have to do something,” Sean said. “Raven’s already worried about you, and I’m sure that Erik will be getting restless being cooped up with nowhere else to go. Azazel shouldn’t be too much of a problem, he knows he’s outnumbered, but Erik could pose a real threat if he wanted to. 

“He doesn’t have his helmet. If he threatens the children I can stop him,” Charles said dully, and Sean shook his head. 

“We’re worried about you, professor,” he said honestly. “Hank’s been working non-stop to try and find something to help you, and Alex and Logan have taken over everything at the school. You haven't left this room in weeks, and the students are beginning to question if you even exist!” he exclaimed. 

“What do you want me to do, Sean?” Charles asked. 

“Well figure out what’s going on with Raven, Azazel, and Erik for starters,” Lisa interrupted. “If they’re here then something serious must be after them. Not to mention the fact that Erik Fucking Lehnsherr is currently staying in your house,” she emphasized. “You might wanna make sure that he’s not gonna, you know, kill us all in our sleep!” 

“He’s not, Lisa. Do you think I would have let him stay if he was?” Charles asked tiredly. Lisa looked like she wanted to say more, but Sean shook his head. The two left Charles to his thoughts and pizza, though he would only focus on one. 

“Oh Erik, what have you gotten yourself into,” he wondered aloud. Erik was a topic that often drifted across his mind ever since Cuba. His first real friend, and first real enemy, if you could really call their strange dynamic that. Charles could have easily found Erik by locating either Raven or Azazzel’s minds, but he didn’t, and Erik knew that. Erik could have ripped Westchester up from it’s foundation and demolished all that Charles had built had he so desired, and yet he held back. Ever since their parting, neither mutant had made an attack against the other. 

Charles imagined that many members of Erik’s group would have wanted to go after him and his school, just like many of Charles’ own people wanted to hunt Erik to the ends of the Earth. The only thing standing between all-out war was Charles, Eri, and their strange and twisted bond. 

As much as feeling Erik’s mind near his again had thrilled Charles, it had also scared him. The other mutant’s mind was far more broken then he remembered. He didn’t dig through it as he wanted to out of respect for his old friend, but even just skimming the surface thoughts that reached him allowed him to create a mental profile of Erik. He was tired and scared. He didn’t want to be at Westchester, and yet he had longed for nothing more than to return ever since leaving. His thoughts were like shards of glass, and Charles knew that if he got to close, he was sure to get cut. It had saddened him, to see how much Erik had fallen. Charles knew that his own state was just as bad, but he had hoped that maybe Erik would be better off given that he had Raven and the Brotherhood. Apparently he had been wrong. 

“I’m so sorry, my friend,” Charles murmured into the darkness.


	3. Man of Metal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles and Erik finally meet face to face. Also, some altercations between the two groups.

Erik glared at the spacious room. He glared at the large windows lining the wall. He glared at the pizza that Hank had left for him. He had found himself doing quite a lot of glaring lately. He could hear Raven moving around in the room next door, and Azazel eating pizza in the other. Raven’s relief at being let back into her childhood home had been palpable, but Erik could tell she had been disappointed, and a little bit hurt that Charles hadn’t greeted them himself. Erik felt that Charles would be well within his right to ignore all three of them, but he had a sinking feeling that that wasn’t what was happening. Given Lisa’s coldness towards them and Hank and Alex’s avoidance of all Charles-related questions, he could make an educated guess that Charles was not okay, and it was probably his fault. 

He had tried to reach out with his mind to see if Charles was there, but he had gotten no response. Not a brush against his own thoughts. He had purposefully kept his helmet tucked away in his bag as an open invitation, but still nothing. He had no doubts that Charles was using the minds of Hank and Sean and Alex to make sure that things stayed civil, possibly even Raven and Azazel. Just not him. He had hoped that Charles would be able to settle into life after Cuba with his school and new mutants to teach, but it seemed he was wrong. If Lisa was right, then the students didn’t even know Charles existed. Erik growled in annoyance and began to pace the length of the room. 

Thoughts of Emma, and Janots, and Angel filtered their way into his mind. He would need to figure out a way to find out what happened to them and save them if they were still alive. He had little doubt that Charles would be willing to help, though he had his doubts about some of the others. Alex was probably still mad at Angel for joining Shaw after watching Darwin get killed by him, and the rest had all been recruited purely to fight Jantos, Emma, and Azazel when they had worked for Shaw. There was no reason for them to want to save any members of the brotherhood from whatever it was that had taken them. Erik sighed and finally lay down on the bed to stare blankly at the ceiling. He could remember a time when he had almost called this place home. Had he stayed a few more weeks before the Shaw confrontation, perhaps he would have. Perhaps, had he had a bit more time, Cuba would have gone down differently. Maybe he would have been able to convince Charles to join him, he mused. A small part of him whispered that it probably would have been the other way around, but he chose to ignore that part. 

He let himself open his mind, an invitation to Charles, but wasn’t surprised when it was unaccepted. It was almost as if the telepath wasn’t even there. 

~

Hank made his way to the back rooms with breakfast at eight o’clock. The students were down in the main dining room and he was known to eat earlier than them, so he knew that he wouldn’t be missed. He knocked on the first door he came to and waited while he heard footsteps from inside. When the door opened he found himself face-to-face with Azazel. 

“I brought food,” Hank said, handing Azazel a plate of eggs and toast. “We’re having a meeting in the library at nine. You’ll be expected to be there,” he added. Azazel nodded wordlessly and closed the door. The next room, much to Hank’s dismay was Erik’s. He had known that he was going to have to face the other mutant eventually, but he had been hoping to see Raven first. Maybe she’d be able to give him some tips as to what mood Erik was in. 

“I have breakfast,” Hank said when the metal hinges opened themselves. Erik was sitting in a chair facing the window, and pointedly looking at anything but Hank. 

“Just put it down somewhere,” Erik said quietly. Hank placed the plat on the dresser.

“There will be a meeting in the library at nine that you are expected to attend,” Hank said. 

“Why?” Erik asked imediatly. 

“Charles thinks that we should figure all this ut sooner rather than later. We need to know what took your friends, whether it’s coming here, and what we can do about it,” Hank said. 

“And will Charles be at the meeting?” Erik asked. Hank hesitated, and the metal wielder raised an eyebrow. 

“I don’t know,” Hank admit. “He will definitely be there mentally, but I’m not sure if he will make a physical appearance.” Erik nodded, seeming to file the fact away for later. Hank could tell that the other mutant was keen on figuring out why Charles was hiding away. As much as Hank wanted to scream the answers at Erik and let the fact sink in that what had happened on the Cuban beach had broken their friend, he held his tongue. Charles had begged him not to tell Erik or the others of his condition, and so he would not. Hank backed out of the room and moved on to the last room. Raven’s room.

“Raven?” he called quietly, knocking lightly on the wooden door. 

“Just a sec,” came a reply. He heard the sound of footsteps moving around before the door opened to reveal Raven in her natural form. 

“Hey,” Hank said, holding out the plate as an offering. “I figured you guys would be hungry.” Raven nodded and accepted the plate. “I’ve also been told to let you know that there’s going to be a meeting at nine in the library. We’re going to figure out what’s going on and how to fix it,” Hank says, stumbling over the words more than he had before. 

“Alright, will Charles be there?” she asked. Hank was forced to give her the same answer he gave Erik. She chewed on her bottom lip in concern before taking a deep breath. 

“He’s not all right, is he,” she stated. Hank sighed. 

“No,” he replied. “He’s not.” Raven nodded and didn’t push any further. 

“Thank you, Hank. I’ll see you at nine,” she said. Hank nodded and headed back down to greet the students. 

~

Erik followed Raven and Azazel into the library, carefully scanning the already gathered mutants. Hank was sitting beside Alex and Lisa at the table, along with a man that Erik vaguely recognized, but couldn’t say why. That was until a memory surfaced of the mutant recruitment trip, and a cigar-smoking man swearing him and Charles away. Apparently he’d had a change of heart. 

“Good, everyone’s here,” Hank said. “So, we’ve been checking the area and haven’t found any sign of anything amiss, so I’d say your safe here for now. Charles is keeping a metal eye out as well, but you said that Emma couldn’t find whoever it was, so I’m not sure how much good it will do us,” Hank reported. Raven nodded. 

“Can he hear us/” Raven asked, a bit of hope bleeding into her voice. 

“Yes Raven, I can hear you,” Charles’s voice said, echoing through all of their minds. Raven looked around and Erik jerked back in surprise. He hadn’t felt Charles in his mind, yet he could hear him clear as day. 

“Charles, where are you?” Raven asked. 

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to see you,” he answered, dodging the question. “I shall be helping however I can though to figure out what happened to the Brotherhood,” Charles assured them. Azazel nodded, seeming to get over his initial shock. 

“I- it’s good to hear your voice,” Raven said, seemingly unable to figure out what to say. Erik nodded slightly in agreement, though he was unsure if Charles was aware of the movement. If he was, he didn’t show it. 

The meeting carried on for about forty-five minutes, Raven doing most of the talking with Azazel adding in details he deemed important every so often. Erik chose to remain mostly silent. He could see the distrust on Alex’s face, though the younger mutant tried very hard to hide it. Logan, the older man was called seemed to view him with the same angry, distaste as Lisa did. Erik really couldn’t fault him for that, and if the way he acted around anyone else was anything to go by, Erik had a feeling that he viewed everyone that way. Charles didn’t speak too much, and when he did it was only to add in a suggestion or idea. It was all very professional, and Erik could tell that Raven wanted to talk more with the telepath. 

“Alright,” said Hank when the meeting was over. Charles had stopped talking at that point, but Erik felt as though he could still sense the telepath’s presence in the back of his mind.”You have free reign of the library and this hallway. You can go outside, just stay away from the students. There’s some… distrust and Charles doesn’t want any fighting,” he explained. Lunch will be at twelve,” he added. No one had any questions, and so they all began to disperse, Raven going over to talk to Hank, and Azazel looking around some of the bookshelves. 

“Charles,” Erik thought. “Charles, I know you’re there.” Charles remained silent though, and so Erik growled in annoyance and gave up. He looked around the group, and his eyes settled on Lisa. She was looking around the shelf parallel to Azazel, eyes narrowed as she searched for a particular title. Erik watched carefully as she pulled out a historical novel based in Elizabethan England. Alright, she was definitely getting that for Charles. 

“Lisa,” he said, walking towards her before he was even aware of what he was doing. Her eyes narrowed and her face fell into a cool mask when she saw who it was that was calling her. 

“What,” she demanded. 

“You know where Charles is,” he said. Lisa folded her arms over her chest and seemed to size him up. 

“Yes, but I’m telling you if that’s what you're asking. 

“I need to talk to him,” Erik said, and Lisa gave a sarcastic laugh, drawing the attention of Hank and Raven who had been conversing nearby. 

“And why, may I ask, would I help you with that?” she demanded. 

“I just need to talk to him,” Erik said again. 

“You just did,” Lisa replied cooly. Logan was now watching the altercation with narrowed eyes. Alex, seeming to sense the growing tension, quickly strode over and put a calming hand on Lisa’s shoulder. 

“Lisa, maybe you should take a few minutes,” he suggested but Lisa just shook him off. 

“No. This asshole walks in here like he’s entitled to our help and demands to talk to the professor like he isn’t the reason that no one’s fucking seen him in a year? I think the fuck not,” she snarled. Logan was standing now too, though it seemed that rather than restraining Lisa, he had every intention of joining her. A flash of metal revealed three claws extending from his knuckles. Erik was beginning to see why Alex had nick-named him Wolverine. His eyes snapped back to Lisa, who’s fists had begun to glow with purple energy.

“Lisa stands down,” Hank said. She whipped her head around to glare at the scientist. While she didn’t move forward, she didn’t let her power go either. Erik kept his eyes trained on her fists but was acutely aware of how Logan shifted behind him. 

Tension crackled in the air, Raven and Hank standing with wide eyes at Lia and Eric, while Alex put himself between Logan and Erik while trying to calm Lisa. 

“My dad was on that fucking boat,” she said, and Erik didn’t need to guess which one she was talking about. The entirety of the US Navy had been at Cuba, and he’d threatened to bomb all of them. Lisa’s fist was shimmering a deeper fuschia now, and Erik had a feeling that Hank wasn’t going to be able to keep her at bay for long. She was like him, he realized. Angry, hotheaded, and prepared to do whatever it took to get revenge on those who wronged her. 

“Lisa,” a different voice said, this one much calmer. Everyone looked up to the second-floor balcony of the library to see the speaker. Charles Xavier.

Erik almost didn’t recognize him at first. His hair was at his chin and a tangled mess. His eyes were downcast and empty, and his face looked thinner. That wasn’t the worst part, though. The worst part was what he was sitting in. Erik felt horror pool him as he took in the wheelchair that Charles was sitting in. Erik could think of only one thing that would have put Charles in that chair.

“Charles?” Raven whispered in horror. Charles ignored her, though. His eyes were trained on Lisa, who was looking up at him in shock and defiance. 

“Lisa, stand down,” he said, his voice tired and void of emotion. “I told you that I don’t want any fighting in this house. Especially not around my books, look what you did to the bloody novel!” he said, gesturing to the book that was still tucked tightly under her shoulder which was smoking slightly. She quickly put the book down and, with a last contemptuous look at Erik, let her fists lower and the light goes out. 

“Sorry professor,” she muttered, slightly ashamed. 

“Just don’t let it happen again,” Charles said. He was decidedly not looking at Erik or Raven, and it seemed to be bothering both of them equally. 

“Logan, that goes for you too,” he said, turning his attention to Logan, who slowly retracted his claws with a grunt of acknowledgment. Charles looked like he was going to say more but suddenly gritted his teeth in what looked like pain. 

“Hank,” he said. “I think I could use some more of that medicine,” he said quietly, eyes squeezed shut. Hank stood frozen for a moment before nodding sharply and rushing up the stairs to Charles’ side. 

“Charles!” Raven yelled, eyes widening. 

“It’s all right, just stay there,” Hank called. Raven looked on the verge of tears as Hank helped Charles out of the library. Azazel was looking around in shock and Erik… Erik didn’t know what he was feeling. The sight of Charles in a wheelchair was a shock to the system and one that he had yet to comprehend. 

“Erik?” Azazel asked, teleporting to his side. Erik just shook his head. Lisa cast him a withering look, and he could read her meaning well enough. See? This is what you did. What right do you have to him now? 

Erik turned on his heel and left the room. He could hear Raven burst into tears as the door closed behind him, but he was to rattled to look back. He marched straight to his room and, with a yell of rage, slammed his fist into the wall, shaking the dresser and rattling the windows. He could feel the metal in the room beginning to quake and tremble, but he forced himself to let it go. There was no reason to do any more damage to something of Charles’. He heard Raven pass and stop briefly outside her door. She kept going and he didn’t care. Azazel knocked briefly a bit later on to tell him that Alex was brining lunch by, but got no response. Erk wondered idly what Hank was doing. Probably trying to help Charles. 

He was getting ready to fall into a fitful sleep that night when suddenly he heard it like a whisper at the back of his mind. 

“Erik.”


	4. I Can Hear You Calling Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik and Charles talk (kind of), Raven and Hank sort out a few things, and Erik meets Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm sorry it's been so long, school and personal projects have been taking up a lot of my time lately. Hope you like this update!

Charles could tell that the situation was getting out of control. He had tried to convince Lisa not to go to the meeting, but she had been stubborn. She didn’t trust any of the Brotherhood in the manner, and who was Charles to deny her the ability to keep an eye on them and ensure her safely? He had hoped that by mentally taking part in the conversation he’d be able to keep tensions down. Apparently he had been wrong. 

He had planned on leaving everyone’s minds after the meeting was over, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself away from Erik and Raven’s mind. It had been so long since he’d felt them near that he couldn’t help but bask in the familiar feelings of their thoughts. He decided that it wouldn’t hurt to just remain silent in their surface thoughts. Apparently he wasn’t as inconspicuous as he thought, because soon Erik was trying to talk to him once more. The sound of his friend speaking mentally to him sent him into a panic, and he quickly withdrew until only a shred of his conscious still remained in the library. Apparently the brief contact was enough to attract Erik’s curiosity. Charles mentally swore when Erik approached Lisa, asking after him. Out of all the people he could have asked, he chose Lisa. Of course, he did. Charles was already wheeling himself down the hall by the time Lisa’s fists began to glow.

Charles forced himself not to look at Raven or Erik. He didn’t want to see the horror in their eyes at his weakness. He knew they’d find out eventually, but he thought he had more time. He heard Raven call out to him, but made himself ignore her as he chastised Lisa and somehow convinced Logan to stand down. He thought he was doing quite well until suddenly the pain returned full force. He heard Raven scream his name and could feel Erik’s mind ripping and tearing at itself. Hank had rushed him back to his room and started getting medications ready. He said he had a new one he wanted to try. He was worried about it messing with Charles’ telepathy so he wasn’t going to give him the full amount, but Charles didn’t mind. He took the drug. 

It took only a few minutes for the medication to kick in. Charles felt the pain fade into a dull throb and then vanish completely. He felt his telepathy begin to slip away as well. It wasn’t gone completely because Hank hadn’t given him the full amount of medicine, but he could feel that it was different. It was slipperier like it could escape him if he wanted. 

Hank said that if he took the full drug he could regain his ability to walk, but he would lose his telepathy so long as the drug was taking effect. Charles said he’d think about it, but he doubted that he’d go through with it. 

Now, he lay in his bed, the novel Lisa had brought for him lying forgotten by his side. The past hour had been spent wrestling with his mind and heart. It seemed quite a cliche, but he felt it was the only way to aptly describe what he felt. He could feel Erik’s mind like a streetlamp amongst shadows, and every part of him yearned to reach out and soothe the roiling emotions within it. The logical part of him knew that it wasn’t in his or Erik’s best interests to make any more contact, but he just couldn’t bear the idea of letting his friend suffer. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed.

“Erik,” he thought. He felt Erik’s mind snap to attention, the disarray coming to focus in under a nano-second. Charles had always appreciated that about Erik’s mind. It was like a well-oiled machine. 

“Charles,” he replied. Charles sighed in relief at the familiar feeling. 

“Erik, do calm yourself. You’ve been tearing your mind to shreds for the past three hours and it’s painful to witness,” Charles said. Erik was silent on the other end and Charles worried for a moment that he had over-stepped.

“You’re in a wheelchair,” Erik stated. Charles squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Yes, Erik,” he agreed. There was no point in denying it. Erik had seen what he’d seen and Charles would never invade his mind to try and remove the memories. Charles felt a spike of emotion from Erik and felt the carefully gathered pieces of his thoughts begin to pull apart. Guilt tore at the other man and Charles flinched at the ferocity in which it attacked. 

“Erik,” he said softly, trying to find a way to make his mind settle once more. This seemed to only make things worse though, and the rising storm of Erik’s thoughts began to begin to shape itself into a blizzard of emotion. 

“Erik!” Charles repeated, firmer this time. “Erik, you listen to me right now.” At this Erik was once again pulled back into that state of focus, and Charles sighed through his nose, the strain of keeping hold of his telepathy with the medicine still coursing through his veins proving very taxing. 

“You sound different,” Erik observed. 

“My new medicine from Hank. It keeps the pain away, but it messes with my telepathy. I could take more of it to regain my walking abilities, but then I would lose my telepathy completely, and so I will stay as I am,” Charles explained. Erik was silent and Charles reached out again to him only to find mental shields blocking him from accessing his mind. He recoiled in hurt and leaned back against the bed frame. He must have learned them from Emma. It was better than the helmet because he could at least tell where Erik was and if he was alright, but it still hurt to be so obviously rejected. 

“Erik…” he whispered through his telepathy one last time. He got no response.

~

Raven sat on her bed, a pile of tissues piled next to her. She had heard Erik punch the walls and yell until his voice was hoarse, but couldn’t find it in herself to make him stop. She had left him on that beach. He had been paralyzed without her knowing. He had undergone physical therapy and had to learn how to function without his legs with...who? Raven wouldn’t know, because she hadn’t been there, she thought bitterly. While she had been the younger out of the two of them, she had always viewed Charles as something for her to protect. To shield from the cruelty of the real world.

Raven was interrupted from her musings by a soft knock on the door. It slowly opened to reveal Hank, a tray with tea and cookies in his hands. 

“Hey, I thought you could use something warm, and the kids thought you could use something sweet,” he said, placing the tray at the end of the bed.

“The kids?” Raven asked in confusion, wiping her eyes. “They know I’m here?” 

“Not exactly,” Hank said. One of the younger ones is an empath, and she said that she could sense great sadness coming from near the library. She could also sense a lot of anger, but I figured that was Erik. They know that someone is back here and that they're very sad, and so they made cookies,” Hank said, gesturing to the tray of sugar cookies with frosting smiley faces. Raven smiled despite herself and took a bite.

“Well, be sure to tell them they’re fantastic little chefs,” she said. They sat in silence for a few moments before Hank spoke. 

“Charles said to tell you that he’s alright,” Hank said. “He’s sorry for scaring you, but he’s feeling better now.” 

“It was the bullet, wasn’t it?” Raven asked, and Hank nodded. Raven felt another sob building in her chest, but she pushed it down. She’d cried enough for one day.

“Do the students know?” she questioned.

“Only a few,” Hank said. “Sean and Alex are aware, and so are a few that work specially with him like Jean Grey, or Ororo, or Peter,” he said. “Lisa does too. She enrolled in the school not long after… you know.” 

“She said her father was on a boat…”

“Yeah. there were a lot of fathers on those ships. Fathers, brothers, lovers, cousins. Had those missiles found their mark there would have been far more collateral damage than imaginable. It’s like he was so desperate to avenge his own family he didn’t even realize that he would create millions of other children that would feel they had to do the same.” Raven could feel tears dripping down her face, but didn’t move. 

“Can I see him? Charles?” she asked quietly. Hank hesitated for a moment. 

“I’ll ask him next time I go to check up on him. He’s sleeping at the moment.” Raven nodded. They stayed like that for a long time until hank was called down to help Alex teach science. 

Raven stayed in her room for a bit longer but eventually stood up. She would have to leave sooner or later so there was no point in delaying the inevitable. She pushed the door open and looked around. The hall was deserted, and she couldn’t see anyone in the library. She figured that the students were taking up most of the time of the other X-men. 

She found her gaze drawn to Erik’s door where she could hear the sound of pacing. He had been doing a lot of that lately, usually paired with glaring at absolutely nothing. 

“Erik,” she called quietly, wrapping on his door. The pacing stopped, but she was granted no response. With a roll of her eyes, she pushed the door open. 

“What,” Erik snapped. He looked even worse than he had that morning. His hair was in disarray from running his hands through it, and his breakfast and lunch were both untouched. 

“You should throw those out if you’re not going to eat them, they’ll start to smell,” she said, sitting down on the end of his bed. Erik stared at her with an incomprehensible expression before grabbed the two plates and tossing them in the trash. 

“What do you want,” he said gruffly. Raven just looked at him and he sighed.

“I don’t know where he is,” he finally said. 

“But you’ve talked to him,” she pushed. “Don’t deny it, he reached out to you.” Erik nodded. 

“We… talked,” he admitted. “It was difficult though. Hank has found a cure for the pain, but it affects his telepathy. He only takes a bit. If he were to take the whole thing he’d be able to walk again, but his powers would be completely gone.” Raven closed her eyes. 

“How did we not know?” she asked. Erik didn’t answer. 

“I blocked him out,” he finally said. Raven stared at him in shock. “I couldn’t handle it, and I blocked him out. I can hear him in the back of my mind. He wants to know why,” Erik said. 

“And do you have an answer for him?” Raven asked. Erik shook his head. 

“I don’t even have an answer for me yet.” Raven nodded. “I don’t-” Erik began, but cut himself off. “I don’t want to lose again,” he said, frustration dancing behind his eyes. 

“I know,” Raven replied. With that, she stood and headed back down to the library. 

~

Erik could still feel Charles’ presence in the back of his mind. He wasn’t so much of pushing against the shields as resting a small distance away from them. He wanted more than anything to continue their conversation on a lighter topic. Perhaps play a game of chess, each moving the pieces on their respective sets. Something was stopping him, though. He just couldn’t put a name to it. Charles had said he was tearing his mind apart. 

Emma had said similar things on the rare occasions that he wasn’t wearing his helmet. It was less of a concern and more of a complaint coming from her though. Too loud, she’d say. Erik hadn’t been lying when he told Raven that he didn’t have an answer for himself or Charles. It frustrated him to no end, but he couldn’t seem to find the right way to talk to the other mutant. 

“Who the fuck are you?” a voice asked. Erik turned around sharply to see a boy of about twelve standing behind him. He was dressed entirely in silver which matched his shockingly grey hair and was tossing an apple between his two hands at an astounding speed. Before Erik had a chance to speak, the boy zipped across the room and returned to his spot with Erik’s wallet. 

“Erik Lehnsherr? Like the metal guy?” the boy asked. “What are you doing here, didn’t you, like, brake the professor's spine? Lisa hates you, and so do Logan and Alex and everybody,” he said, seeming ot talk as quickly as he could move. 

“And you’re not afraid?” Erik asked carefully. The boy just shrugged.

“I’m fast,” he said. “There’s no way you could catch me. I’d be in another state before you could move a single screw,” he said. “I”m Peter. Peter Maximoff,” he said. The name ‘Maximoff’ rang a bell in the back of Erik’s mind. He’d have to look into it later. Perhaps he knew a relative of the boys. 

“Are you a student?” Erik asked. Peter nodded.

“Yup. I’m one of the new ones. Alex recruited me from his brother's middle school. His brother’s here too. Scott.” Erik furrowed his brow. Alex had never mentioned having a brother before. 

“Besides the original X-men, how many students are there?” Erik asked. He’d just assumed that besides Lisa and Logan, Charles’ team was the same as when he’d last seen it. 

“Well, there’s the original gang along with Scotty and me. There’s also Kurt, Kitty, Lisa, Logan, Jean, Ororo, and Warren. Those re the ones I’m friends with at least. I don’t really know the young ones. I just got here,” he said. Erik blinked. Those were far more names than he’d expected. 

“I don’t think I’m supposed to be telling you that,” Peter said. “I should go.” With that, he was gone, and Erik was alone again.


	5. You Look Like Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Erik talk. Raven and Charles talk. Azazel discovers Kurt, and Erik discovers something he never thought he'd have to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So sorry it's been so long, but I'm back with another chapter! This one has more Charles and Raven and Erik and Peter. Sorry, Charles and Erik don't really interact in this one. Also, Jean!

“Charles,” a voice said. Charles opened his eyes and to see Hank standing in the doorway to his room. He held Charles’ medicine in one hand, and a book in the other. 

“Good morning, Hank,” Charles greeted. “I haven’t missed anything, have I?” the telepath added, frowning as he realized that he’d overslept by at least an hour. 

“I figured you’d need your rest after yesterday,” Hank said. “Besides, it’s Sunday. The kids are all off playing on the grounds or hanging out in town. I think that Jean, Scott, and Warren are at the mall,” he said. He was fidgeting slightly, and Charles could tell there was something else he wanted to say. 

“What is it Hank?” he asked. 

“Raven was asking for you,” he replied nervously. “She wants to see you.” Charles closed his eyes for a moment. 

“I see,” he replied finally. He had sensed her thoughts the night before and had known that this would be coming. He’d have to face them eventually, he reasoned. 

“What did you tell her?” he finally asked. 

“That I’d ask you,” Hank replied. Charles nodded. 

“How much does she know about my… current state?” Charles asked. 

“She knows that you’re in a wheelchair, and she knows why,” Hank said. “I have a feeling that she is also aware that you reached out to Erik, so she probably knows whatever you told him,” Hank summarized. 

Charles sighed. 

“Alright. Tell her that she can come up, but don’t let anyone else up,” he said. Hank nodded, leaving the medicine by Charles’ bedside. 

Charles watched him go before carefully reaching out with his mind. Erik was awake, but his shields were still up. His helmet though, Charles noted with satisfaction, remained in the car outside. He brushed carefully against the shields, a gentle message to Erik that he was there, and allowed himself to settle a little distance away from Erik’s mental shields. 

~

Erik knew the second that Charles turned his telepathy towards him. His shields still held from the night before and he knew logically that they wouldn’t break, but he still held his breath when Charles’ mind brushed against them.

His presence felt surer somehow, and Erik wondered if it was because he hadn’t taken his medicine yet. He knew that Charles wanted him to let the shields down, but he kept a firm hold on them. Though Charles wasn’t attacking his shields in any way, just his presence on their outskirts felt like a full siege. Erik wasn’t even sure anymore why he was keeping his mind so resolutely hidden, but he just couldn’t bring himself to open up. A flash of red made him lookup. 

“Azazel, what are you doing here?” he asked. 

“They have a teleporter,” Azazel said. Erik looked confused for a second before it clicked. 

“Here at the school?” he questioned. Azazel nodded. Nothing about his expression gave any clue as to how he felt about this fact, or why he deemed it important enough to report to Erik. 

“I saw him in the yard. He was playing with some of the younger children. Practicing moving multiple people,” he said. 

“Azazel, what is this about?” Erik asked. The teleporter looked at him blankly. 

“I- I don’t know,” he admitted. “I just wanted to tell you,” he said. With that, he disappeared. Erik strode over to his window and looked out to see that there were indeed children playing below. He recognized Alex among them. His eyes were then drawn to an entirely blue boy with a barbed tail that was disappearing and reappearing around the children, occasionally taking one of them with him. It was an odd sight, Erik mused. Still, it was a welcome distraction. 

He wasn’t sure how long he watched them for, but it must have been at least an hour. He jerked up when the sound of a motor reached his ears and saw a car pulling into the driveway. A girl with long red hair was laughing with two teenage boys, one of which was wearing a strange sort of eye cover while the other sported a pair of large, white, wings. He didn’t recognize any of them, but they looked about the same age as the boy that he’d met yesterday, so he assumed that they were the friends he was talking about. Charles really had done a good job with the place, Erik thought. The second Charles’ name popped into his mind, his thoughts froze, the beach in Cuba suddenly flashing to the front of his mind. 

The group got out of the car and was trotting back towards the front door when suddenly the girl froze and looked straight up at Erik’s window. He knew logically that she couldn’t see him, but had a sinking suspicion that she knew he was there. Within a moment she was walking again, but there was a stiffness to her now. Yeah, she definitely knew he was there. 

~

“Jean knows you’re here,” a familiar voice said, and Erik looked up from the book he was reading to see Peter Maximoff leaning on the doorframe, this time drinking a can of Coke. 

“She heard you earlier, and she’s been wondering who you are,” he added. 

“Is she the red-head?” Erik asked. Peter responded with a nod before speeding over to the chair by Erik’s window. 

“She already knew someone was here but didn’t really start caring until she heard you thinking about what happened to the Professor,” Peter explained. “Now she knows who you are.” 

“Is she a telepath?” Erik questioned. Another nod. 

“She’s also telekinetic,” Peter said. “She’s one of the most powerful people here. She trains especially with the professor, but she still loses control sometimes.” 

“Did she tell anyone else?” Erik asked. 

“No. She just asked if I had seen you yet. She knows that I get into places I’m not supposed to, so she figured I’d have already met you, or would be willing to,” he said casually. Erik just looked at him. There was something about the kid that he just couldn’t place. 

“Water?” he offered, levitating a metal glass over to the speedster, a trick which made Peter grin goofily. 

“It’s so cool that you can bend metal and shit,” he said, taking a sip of the offered water. “You know, my mom once knew a guy who could do that.” Erik momentarily froze, but Peter didn’t seem to notice, too wrapped up in talking. 

“I wonder if there are any other super faster guys in the world. Like, do you think I’ll ever meet any? If I do then I’ll totally race them. I bet I’d win. Would I? Yeah, I bet I would.” 

“How long have you been at school?” Erik asked. “You said that you were new. Did the professor find you?” 

“Na, Logan. We’d met before and thought that I’d like it here. My mom agreed, of course, said that I could use some ‘time away’ whatever that means. She just wants me to stop stealing shit.” 

Erik relaxed a little. Charles didn’t recruit him, so Charles probably didn’t know what Erik suspected to be true about the boy’s lineage. Logan though… Erik couldn’t be sure about Logan. He got the sense that the Wolverine was very intelligent, but that he didn’t know all that much about his own past, let alone someone else’s. No, Erik decided. Logan wouldn’t have dug that far into Peter’s background. 

“And has it been? Good for you, I mean,” Erik asked, interested in what Peter thought about what Charles had built. Peter shrugged. 

“I mean, I’ve never really liked school as a rule, but this place is pretty chill. I mean, the grading system is super lax. He just cares that we learn the shit, not that we get all ‘A’s. And it’s pretty cool being around other mutants. Plus the movie theater is great. I don’t even need to use my powers to steal concessions,” Peter said. 

“Yeah,” he decided. “I’d say I like it here.” 

~

Raven walked carefully up the stairs to Charles’ room, the route achingly familiar from when the two had been children trying to find comfort in each other under the Marco’s reign of terror. Hank was walking beside her, and though he seemed relaxed, she could tell he was nervous. 

“You’re sure he wants to see me?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” Hank reassured her with a tight smile. “It’s just… don’t be discouraged by his appearance, he’s doing better than he seems. He just doesn’t really care about what he looks like he isn’t going anywhere so he just…” 

“Let’s his hair turn into a rat’s nest?” Raven finished, remembering the tangled mess she’d seen in the library. That remark earning a laugh from Hank. 

“Pretty much, yeah,” he agreed, as he opened Charles’ door. 

“It isn’t that bad,” a voice said from the bed. 

Charles was propped up by pillows, a book in one hand and a pencil in the other. Raven had a feeling that he was ‘typo-searching’ as he called it. Corrected published work was one of his favorite pastimes. He looked a little less worn than he had in the library, but he certainly didn’t look good. His hair was somehow worse than it had been, and though he smiled brightly when they entered, his gaze was still hollow. 

“Charles,” Raven said. 

“Hello Raven,” the telepath said. “You look good,” he said. 

“Well you certainly don’t,” Raven replied. “I’m gone for a year and you forget how to use a brush,” she said. “Unbelievable.” Charles chuckled, and so Raven decided that she had accomplished her goal. 

“Your school is doing well,” she said and Charles nodded.

“That would be thanks to Hank and Alex. They really got it off the ground when I was… they’ve been a big help,” Charles explained, coughing awkwardly. Raven sighed quietly. 

“We should’ve been there. How did you even get home?” she asked.

“I don’t remember much of it,” Charles said. Apparently I gave the US government a mental nudge to ‘accidentally’ let out a rescue boat.” Raven smiled despite herself. She could picture the confusion as a bunch of faceless military men in suits tried to figure out where one of their thousand-dollar boats had gone. 

“The students respect you,” Raven said. “I’ve heard them talking about you. Even though they’ve never seen you, they still respect you. Why don’t you go down and spend more time with them? You always wanted to teach,” she tried to say, but Charles was shaking her head before she was even finished. 

“They respect me because they don’t see me. They think I’m so busy protecting them and saving mutant kind and that’s why I’m never around, but in reality, I’m just here. Hiding in my room. They respect a hero that they made up. I’d just disappoint them,” he said, and he didn’t even sound bitter about it. Not upset. Just accepting. 

“They wouldn’t think that,” Raven said. Charles still shook his head. 

“They would. They might not say it, but deep down they would want more. They would lose faith if they saw me now.” 

“Now they wouldn’t-” 

“Yes they would, Raven,” he said sharply. “It doesn’t take a genius to see that I’m pathetic. They need people like Logan and Alex and Lisa and Hank. Mutants that can teach them to fight for their place in this world. That they can look up to. Not me.” 

“Charles, I think the only person who thinks that you’re pathetic here is you,” Raven said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. “I haven’t met any of the students, but I know enough about them from Hank. I know that they made me cookies because an empath could sense I was sad. They didn’t know who I was or why I was there, only that there was someone in need, and so they responded with kindness. I’ve seen them playing and learning outside in the fields that I grew up in and I’ve heard them laughing and talking. That isn’t because of Hank, or Lisa, or Logan, or Alex. That’s because of you, Charles. This was your dream.” Charles stared resolutely down at his blanket, and so Raven continued. 

“Azazel saw Kurt today from his window. He likes to watch him practice. He’s never met another teleporter before,” she said. “Erik was watching them too. I never know what Erik is thinking about anything, but I think he’s proud of what you’ve made. Even if he won’t admit it.” 

“No he’s not,” Charles said, shaking his head. 

“What do you mean?” Raven asked. 

“He doesn’t want to be here, Raven. The second we figure out what’s hunting you he’ll leave and get as far away from here and me as possible.” Raven’s brow furrowed. 

“Charles, he doesn’t want to leave,” she said. “He’s terrified of this place, yes, but it’s because he doesn’t know what to do. He’s trying to navigate this mess the same as you are, and he’s having just as little success. You need to just sit down and sort all this out, the both of you,” she declared. 

“Well, he isn’t exactly talking to me,” Charles replied. “So I don’t think that that plan will be very effective.” Raven sighed. So Erik still hadn’t budged on his position. 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Raven promised, standing up. It would be lunch soon, and she knew that Charles would need his medicine from Hank. She paused when she reached the door. 

“Can I see you again?” she questioned. Charles smiled and nodded. Raven smiled back and quietly closed the door behind her before heading back down to her own room, her steps feeling much lighter. 

~

“You saw him didn’t you,” Erik said from where he was sitting in Raven’s room, making her jump in surprise when she entered. 

“What the Hell, Erik,” she growled. “You can’t just waltz on in here whenever you like!” 

“Did. You. See. Him,” Erik demanded. Raven nodded. 

“He knows you’re ignoring him,” she said, and Erik glanced away. “He thinks that you want to leave. Do you?” Erik didn’t answer, and Raven wasn’t all that surprised. The second Erik willingly talked about his emotions was the second that Raven would know she’d met another shape-shifter. 

“How is he?” Erik asked instead. 

“He looks how you feel,” was Raven’s reply. “Though he seems to be a bit better about the sulking part,” she added, predicting the glare that was sent her way. 

“He’s scared,” Raven finally said. “He doesn’t think that he’s good enough for the students, so he hides away and works in the background. Let’s them believe what they will about him. Only a few of them have ever met him.” 

“I know, Peter told me.” 

“Peter?” Raven asked. 

“A student. He has enhanced speed and comes to talk to me sometimes. I’m pretty sure he just likes talking to a criminal,” Erik explained, but Raven could tell there was something else. He seemed uneasy. 

“There’s more to it,” she said. “Who is he?” Erik sighed. 

“My son,” he replied.


	6. Snatchers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik and Charles meet face to face (but like, really this time), More is revealed about the mystery hunter, and Erik has to face the fact that everything is going wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been gone for so long! Shit's been crazy on my end. Luckily I'm back now, and I actually nowhere I'm going with this! Hope you like the chapter!

“Who’s in the back rooms?” Jean asked. She sat opposite from Charles, a chessboard in between them. 

“Some people that need my help. I’ve agreed to give it to them,” Charles replied. Jean could tell that this was not going to be an easy conversation, but it would be a necessary one. After what she’d seen going through the mind of whoever was at the window, she needed to know who was being kept up there. 

“Someone up there was projecting. They were projecting some pretty disturbing things,” she stated lightly. The professor tensed, and she felt a twinge of guilt at the discomfort she was causing. 

“May I ask what it is you saw?” he asked in a way that Jean could tell meant he really would rather be asking anything else. 

“I saw you. I saw you standing, and then falling. It was a beach,” she said. She had seen more than just that, but she knew how delicate these sorts of things could be. It would be best not to provide too many details. 

“Professor,” she began after a few moments of silence, “is the man up there the one who did this?” she asked. 

“It was an accident,” Charles replied, not looking up from the chessboard. “The bullet wasn’t supposed to… it was an accident.” Jean nodded. 

“Why is he here?” she asked. 

“There is something out there that has been hunting him and his friends, and this is the only place he has left to go. I’ve been trying to find whatever it is, but I haven't had any luck,” Charles confided. 

“The missions that Logan and Lisa have been going on…” 

“They are searching for clues as to what this hunter is,” Charles finished. “It’s where they are now. They brought Ororo and Peter with them too this time.” 

“Peter’s met the man by the library,” Jean stated, and Charles nodded again. 

“He likes him,” Jean added. “I don’t think he knows who he is.” Charles sighed. 

“He knows that he’s Magneto, and he knows that he’s done illegal things, but he doesn’t know about Cuba.” 

“Are you going to tell him?” Jean pushed. 

“No. That’s Erik’s decision,” Charles said. 

~

“Lisa, what the fuck are you doing?” Logan demanded. They were about four miles from where they'd parked the car, and the Wolverine had a bad feeling about that fact. So far they had had no luck in finding whoever it was that was hunting mutants, but he could swear he could feel eyes on him. 

“I’m just checking over here,” the energy wielder snapped back. 

“Well the next ten miles out are fine,” Peter responded, speeding back to Logan’s side. 

“I’d say we’re clear, we should head back and report to the professor,” Ororo agreed. Logan grunted in response and kept his eyes scanning the trees around them. 

“How the Hell are we supposed to find this thing if Charles can’t even see it,” Lisa demanded as they began the trek back towards the car. 

“Not sure. We’re going to have to figure it out though, eventually word of the threats gonna get out, and the last thing we need is the students getting scared,” Ororo pointed out. 

“See anything strange from up there?” Peter asked. 

“No, everything was normal, even the weather,” she reported. 

“I ain’t buyin’ it,” Logan stated gruffly. “Something’s watchin’ us,” he stated. 

“You always think something’s watching us,” Lisa pointed out. “Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t attacked a tree yet.” 

“I happen to have a video that suggests otherwise- what was that!” Peter shouted, jumping and speeding over to Logan and Lisa. Ororo followed quickly behind. 

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t smell right,” Logan stated, sliding out his claws. 

“What does it smell like?” Lisa asked. 

“Fear.” 

~

Raven, Erik, Azazel, Hank, and Alex all sat in the library, Charles’ presence on the outskirts of all their minds. Erik’s day had been going pretty badly already. Whenever he looked out the window, it seemed that Jean Gray was looking back. Not to mention the fact that Peter hadn’t found his way over for a conversation yet. He was beginning to wonder if Jean had told him what she’d seen. So far Peter only knew that Erik knew what had happened to Charles, which was fine. That might change if Jean revealed how exactly he knew what had happened to Charles… but this wasn’t the time for that. 

“Where’s Lisa and Logan? Shouldn’t they be here to give their report?” Raven asked. 

“They should,” Alex agreed, checking his watch. “Hank, you haven't heard anything from them?” he asked. 

“No, they should have arrived back half an hour ago, and still nothing,” Hank confirmed. 

“What does that mean?” Azazel asked. Alex and Hank looked at each other nervously. Alex looked like he was about to reply when suddenly Charles’ voice sounded in their minds. 

“I found them. They’re five miles out in the car,” he reported quickly. “Ororo isn’t with them, and they are badly injured,” he added. 

“Should we send someone out to get them?” Hank asked immediately. 

“No!” Charles answered, and Raven could have sworn he sounded afraid. “No, no one is to leave the manor, is that understood? They are now only three miles out because Lisa drives like a maniac, they’ll be here soon. Alex, Hank, I need you to listen very carefully. I need you to make sure all the students go to their rooms and stay there until further notice. I want you to get Jean and bring her up to the library. As of now, she is a part of this. When the others get back, I want them brought straight to the infirm. I don’t want them to be seen or speak to anyone, is that understood?” Alex and Hank nodded and immediately left the library to do as instructed.

“Charles, what’s happening?” Raven asked nervously. 

“Something bad,” Charles replied. With that, he was gone. 

Erik ran after Hank, who was on his way down to follow Charles’ instructions. 

“Hank!” the metal wielder said as he caught up to the other man. “Hank, I need you to tell me where Charles is,” he said. 

“But I’m not supposed to-”

“Hank, this is important!” Erik growled. Hank stared hard at Erik and seemed to see something that broke his normally strong resolve. 

“Up the side stairs and five doors to the left. It’s the only occupied room in the hall,” he said quietly. “But Erik!” he called as Erik had already begun heading to the stairs. “Don’t push him. If he asks you to leave, then leave,” Hank said. Erik nodded once before running up the stairs. 

The hallway, as Hank had said it would be, was uninhabited. All the doors were thrown wide open to reveal empty rooms filled with dust. All the rooms but one. Erik carefully pushed the door open. 

“Charles?” he asked quietly into the darkness. He felt around for a lightswitch until-

“Stop,” a voice said. Erik’s hand froze on the wall. 

“Hand down,” the voice ordered. Erik complied. 

“What are you doing here, Erik?” Charles asked. He sounded tired. 

“The mission. What happened to them,” he demanded. 

“I’m not sure right now, whatever it was it-”

“WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM!” Erik yelled, shocking the other man into silence. Erik clenched his fist and mentally sighed in frustration. Yelling would get him nowhere. 

“Charles, what happened to them?” he asked in a quieter tone. Charles was silent once more, and Erik thought that he was going to just not answer until finally, he spoke again. 

“They were attacked by whatever it was that is hunting you and the Brotherhood. It somehow managed to block their abilities, it’s why it was able to evade Emma, and why I can’t find it. Lisa and Logan were able to fight it off without their powers, but it took Ororo. They did everything they could but-” his voice cracked, and Erik realized with a start that the other man was crying. 

“Charles?” he asked uncertainly. He took a careful step into the room. It was still too dark to see anything, and Erik had a feeling that Charles wanted it that way. 

“I know, Erik. You were projecting it the whole time you were at the meeting, Raven as well,” he said, taking a ragged breath. 

“Charles what-”

“I swear I didn’t know he was your son, Erik, I’m sorry, I swear I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have kept him from you I wouldn’t have sent him out if I’d known, I’m sorry,” the telepath rambled and suddenly it hit Erik like a ton of bricks. 

“Peter was on the mission, wasn’t he?” Erik asked. Charles’ silence was all the confirmation he needed. 

“Charles, I promise I won’t get angry,” Erik began, trying hard to keep his voice level, “what happened to Peter?” 

“He’s with them, but he’s not conscious. He was hurt in the attack. He doesn’t have Logan was military and Lisa’s father was a general so they had a slight advantage, but Peter doesn’t have any combat training. He’s only alive because took a bullet for him,” Charles’ voice was speeding up and his breath was coming in sharp puffs. Erik had a feeling that this is what Hank had been talking about when he said not to push him. 

“Charles, calm down-” he was interrupted when Charles’ voice sounded in his mind. 

“They’re here,” he said. “Go to the infirm, they’re bringing Peter in,” he said. Then Erik felt Charles’ presence leave his mind entirely, and he took that as his cue to leave. 

~

By the time Erik reached the infirm, Lisa, Logan, and Peter were already there. Hank was extracting a bullet from Logan’s shoulder which Erik realized with a shiver had been meant for Peter, and Alex was wrapping Lisa’s bloody knuckles while she held an ice pack to her battered face. Peter was lying unmoving on a cot, Jean Gray sitting beside him and seemingly attempting to wake him with her telepathy while Raven followed Hank’s instructions for a makeshift splint for his leg. Everything was far too hectic to put a proper caste in place now. 

“Erik!” Raven called upon seeing him. Jean Gray looked up as well. 

“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s too high a risk of damaging his mind if I try and wake him with telepathy now,” she said. 

“What happened,” Erik asked horsley. 

“We aren’t sure,” Hank said. “They were attacked by multiple assailants, all of whom wore masks and had no defining logos on their uniforms.”

“Whoever these bitches are, they don’t want us to be able to trace them back to their source. They’re military though, I can tell that” Lisa said, her words slightly slurred from her swollen bottom lip. 

“They blocked out abilities,” Logan said, growling in pain as Hank finally removed the bullet. “My claws didn’t work, and neither did Lisa’s energy blasts. Peter couldn’t run, and Ororo couldn’t do shit with the weather to get us cover, believe me, she tried,” he said. 

“We need a meeting,” Jean said. “The professor said to get everyone to the library once we were sure you were all right,” she explained. Raven gave Erik a quick hug as she passed, and Azazel patted him on the shoulder. It seemed that Raven had let the teleporter in on who exactly Peter was. 

Erik began to make his way out of the room too, but Jean stopped him. 

“Charles said that you are to stay here,” she explained. Erik could tell that she didn’t trust him. She trusted Charles though, and so it seemed she was willing to leave him unsupervised with her unresponsive friend. 

Either that or she also knew who Peter was. Given how powerful she was, Erik had little doubt that it would have been easy for her to discover that information. 

As the noise of the others slowly faded away, Erik sat down beside Peter’s bed. The boy looked different without his usual goofy grin. His silver clothes were splattered with mud and pine needles, and a large bruise was forming on the left side of his face spanning the distance of his cheek the top of his forehead. 

Erik wondered why he couldn’t wake up. While the damage was extensive none of it was life-threatening. His leg was the worst apparent injury, and Hank would be able to fix that within the month. 

“It’s because of the trauma,” a voice said. Erik turned to see Charles sitting in the doorway. He was looking at anything except Erik and was gripping the armrests of his wheelchair so that his knuckles turned white. 

“Whatever it is that was out there was able to take away mutant abilities. The shock of his DNA being altered so suddenly along with the physical injuries has left his mind reeling. He will be okay, he’ll just need time. I can help him if you’d like,” Charles explained. 

“What happened?” Erik asked. Charles shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure. I can find out if you want,” he said tentatively. “It’s all on his surface thoughts. The event is recent enough that it hasn’t been filed into long term memory yet, “Charles explained. 

“You’re saying you could show me his memory of it?” Erik said, and Charles nodded. Erik took a deep breath. 

“Alright. Show me.” 

  
  


~

_ “Fear,” Logan said.  _

_ “Ororo, go up and see if you can spot anything,” Lisa ordered. Ororo nodded and leaped into the air. She was ten feet up when suddenly she gave a cry and plummeted downward. Peter sped forward to catch her but something was wrong. His movements felt sluggish and repressed. He stumbled forward and watched in horror as she hit the ground. Her head bounced and she didn’t move.  _

_ “Ororo!” Lisa yelled. Her eyes began to glow purple but suddenly sparked out as if short-circuiting. Logan’s claws withdrew into his hands and the Wolverine looked down in shock.  _

_ “Logan? What’s happening!” Peter yelled. He was frightened. He could hear rapidly approaching footsteps. There were at least fifteen of them  _

_ “Kid, come here!” Logan yelled. Peter started to scramble to his feet but fell back to the ground with a scream when pain pierced through his leg. He turned in time to see a figure looming above him, a large foot pushing down hard on his broken leg.  _

_ “Peter, go!” Lisa yelled, slamming into the man and successfully knocking him off of the younger mutant. Peter scrambled back. He tried to speed towards Logan, but couldn’t. Suddenly the Wolverine was in front of him, and Peter’s eyes widened as he saw a bullet enter the other man’s arm.  _

_ “You wanna try that again!” Logan yelled, lunging at the shooter and snapping his neck. Peter was surrounded by violence, gunshots ringing out and only increasing when Lisa got her hands on one of the machine guns. Peter made to crawl over to one of the fallen shooters to try and grab their weapon but must have been seen. Suddenly he was hit in the face with something hard and metal, and there was only darkness. _

~

Erik and Charles sat in silence for a few moments, both processing what they’d just seen through Peter’s memory.

“What could have done this,” Erik said. 

“A mutant,” Charles answered, making Erik look up sharply. 

“What? Why would a mutant do this?” Erik demanded. 

“Because they’re scared. Because they’re being forced to and have no other visible choice. Because they’ll be hurt if they don’t,” Charles replied quietly. “Logan said that he could smell fear. It’s how he knew something was wrong. Whoever is doing this doesn’t want to be.” 

“Well they still are,” Erik growled. “We’ll need to find a way to kill it,” he said. “You said that Lisa and Logan can fight without powers, right? We’ll just need to train the rest. Mystique is good with hand to hand combat and I can fire a gun. I’m sure that Alex and Hank can be taught, and-”

“Erik, you’re not listening to me,” Charles said in a tone that sounded calm but was anything but. 

“Whoever this person it, they don’t want to be doing this. It isn’t their choice,” he said. His voice was wavering slightly, and Erik wondered briefly what was going on in his head. 

“Like Hell they don’t have a choice,” he hissed. “My people are gone, dead for all we know. My SON is lying here unresponsive, and one of your students has now been snatched. We don’t know what they're going through! we don’t know what’s happening to them!” 

“But we know that they are not the only ones suffering!” Charles yelled back, momentarily surprising Erik. “You are in my house, and you will follow my rules, we are taking the mutant responsible alive and getting them help. If you kill them, then you will never be welcome here again,” Charles said icily. 

Erik stared but said nothing. He turned his gaze back to Peter who was still lying motionless on the bed and wondered, not for the first time if he should have gone with his gut instinct and stayed away from Charles and his school. His son was lying half-dead in the med bay while two of Charles’ best were injured and one was missing, possibly dead. 

His son was lying half-dead in front of him. 

Oh God, his son… 

Before he knew it he was crying. Sobbing into his hands as his mind came to terms with what had just happened. What was lying in front of him like a corpse. 

“Erik, just breath,” a familiar voice instructed him, and he felt a gentle hand on his back. “He’s going to be alright, I’m going to make sure he’s alright, just keep breathing,” Charles instructed. Erik did as instructed, and focused on the feeling of the hand on his back. 

“Are you back with me, Erik?” Charles asked after about five minutes of this. Erik nodded, not looking up from his hands. 

“You knew this would happen. It’s why you didn’t want me in the meeting,” Erik stated. 

“Your mind is a mess, Erik. You haven't given it time to come to terms with anything, not even the disappearances of the members of your Brotherhood from months ago. I had a feeling that you were close to the breaking point.”

Erik said nothing and Charles didn’t ask him to. They stayed there for an hour until Alex came into the infirm with Raven. 

“Charles, the students are going to need to be told something,” Alex said. “Ororo is one of their teachers, not to mention a friend. People will notice she isn’t here, and they’ll need to know why.” Charles sighed and rubbed his forehead. 

“Yes. They deserve to know the truth.”

“It’ll scare them,” Raven said. Charles nodded again. 

“Charles, what if Raven took over some of Ororo’s classes,” Alex suggested. “The younger children want to meet her anyway ever since they made her cookies that first time, and it would be good for morale if there was someone there rather than just an empty space.” Charles seemed to think for a moment before nodding. 

“That seems fine,” he said. “Raven, I want you to go talk to Jean about how Ororo’s classes usually go.” Raven nodded. She seemed nervous, but slightly giddy at the chance to meet the other mutants. 

“What about Erik and Azazel?” she asked. 

“Erik will be helping Lisa and Logan and I,” Charles said. “Azazel can join Raven. See if he would like to talk to Kurt, I think they’d get along,” he decided. 

“We’re going to fix this,” he said, turning to Erik. Erik nodded, his eyes not leaving his sleeping son.


	7. I Can Do It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik has a hunch. A bad one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, this chapter turned out way more depressing than I expected it to. I have updated the tags, so check those out, and heed the warning...
> 
> WARNING: graphic, past child abuse, panic attacks, and all-around perpetual fear.
> 
> Read with caution! If any of these are triggering to you, don't read this chapter and skip t the endnotes. There's a summary there.

There was a palpable tension in the air the days following the attack. The younger students would start crying at random times of the day, and the older ones would do their best to console them while the teachers were working in overdrive to keep everyone distracted. 

Raven had taken over Ororo’s classes as Charles had suggested and found that it was less stressful than she’d originally thought. Ororo had taught mostly history and had all her lesson plans already written down, and so Raven mostly just followed those with some occasional freestyle when she came to a topic she was passionate about. 

Peter had yet to wake up, though it wasn’t from lack of outside help. Charles and Jean would take turns attempting to guide his mind into consciousness, but they were often met with severe resistance. The rest of his injuries were healing fine though, and Charles was hopeful that maybe they’d make more progress with Peter’s mental state once his body was back together. Erik was less optimistic. 

While Raven had gotten well integrated with the students via her new teaching position, and Azazel was growing friendly with Nightcrawler, Erik had yet to attempt to speak with anyone besides his Brotherhood, and Charles. To the students, he was a ghost. They were aware of his presence but had never seen him. They only knew that he was dangerous and that he had brought this danger to their school. They never said it out loud, but Erik knew they were thinking about it. He missed his talk with Peter about random stuff that only a teenage boy would be able to come up with, and he regretted not telling the boy the truth about who Erik was. 

He had yet to talk to Charles sense that night in the hospital room. Erik knew that the telepath was working hard to try and keep his school running and figure out who was behind what was happening and how to stop it, but Erik couldn’t help but feel that Charles was avoiding him consciously as well. Erik had been shocked at the ferocity with which Charles had defended the mutant responsible for the kidnapping of their friends, and the more he replayed the conversation in his head, the surer Erik was that something more was going on. He had his own theories, but he didn’t want to think about them. He kept his suspicions carefully guarded in his mind, though he left his other shields down in case Charles wanted to make contact. So far he hadn’t. 

That was why he now found himself in the library, Lisa Dorian glaring at him from across the meeting table. 

“You said you wanted to talk to me?” she ground out between clenched teeth. Erik could tell that it would be difficult to get her to talk to him. It would be best to start the conversation off with something a little easier than what he eventually had planned.

“I need you to tell me about the attack,” he said. 

“I thought you already saw Peter’s memories. Why do you need to hear it from me?” she demanded. 

“Because Peter was scared and untrained,” Erik replied. “He’s just a kid. He’s never had to function in the world without his powers. You have, so I think that you were able to see things that he didn’t pick up on,” he replied. Lisa glared steadily at him before sighing. 

“Fine. What do you wanna know,” she relented. 

“Who attacked you?”

“Bunch of military guys in all black suits. Most likely government, though I have no proof that I could use to nail the sons of bitches,” she replied quickly.

“How do you know they were military?” Erik questioned. 

“They had military-grade weapons, and their attacks were all the same. My father fought the same way,” she coldly, the mention of her father making Erik mentally flinch. 

“So you believe that they’re American military?” 

“Yes. Probably Striker,” she replied. “Charles knows all this and he’s doing what he can, but as I said, we don’t have proof.” 

“What about the loss of your abilities?” Erik asked. “Logan said that he smelled fear before it happened, and Charles believes it’s another mutant. Did you see anyone?” Erik asked. Lisa considered for a second. 

“There was one that didn’t strike me as a soldier. He wore the same gear, but he didn’t stand right. He slouched sort of. He showed his fear plainly,” she said slowly. “He was short, too. No more than a teenager I’d guess.” She stood up suddenly. “I’ve got to talk to Charles.”    
  


“Wait!” Erik said as she began to leave and she turned back to face him, eyes narrowed. 

“Yes?” 

“Charles… How well would you say you know him?” he asked. Lisa’s eyes seemed to narrow further and he could see her mind trying to work out whether or not Erik was attempting to trick her. 

“I was one of the first here after you left him in Cuba,” she replied in the same, icy, tone. 

“So he’s told you things? Things that he wouldn’t tell many people?” Erik asked. 

Another nod.

“Has anyone ever… made him…  _ do  _ something with his powers?” Erik asked. “Something he didn’t want to do?” Lisa looked at him in consideration for a few minutes, Erik feeling momentarily off-balance under the scrutiny of her stare. When she finally replied, it was in a level tone that Erik didn’t think he could decipher if he was the telapth. 

“I would say that I know Charles well,” she said, “but I don’t think anyone here could claim to know him as well as you do. What do you think?” with that she turned and left the library. 

  
  


~

  
  


Raven was alone in Ororo’s classroom when Erik entered. He had been hiding away nearby for the past hour waiting for the students to leave before trying to talk to Raven. 

“Erik, what’s going on?” Raven asked, shutting down the laptop that Ororo had kept all her lesson plans on. She had been going through a slideshow about the French revolution. She remembered Charles reading a lot of novels based in that time period, and so she had enjoyed the lesson a bit more than the others. 

“When did you start living here?” Erik asked, not answering her question. 

“When I was little, no more than twelve,” she answered, clearly confused by the line of questioning. 

“Who was living in the house with you and Charles?” he asked. 

“There was his mother, Sharon Xavier, though she mostly stayed in her room with a bottle of sherry, and then there was his step-father and step-brother, the Markos,” she recalled. Erik made a mental note of the name ‘Marko’ within his mental shields. 

“What were they like?” Erik asked. Raven looked at him carefully before answering, her voice filling with suspicion. 

“I’m… not entirely sure,” Raven said, a look of slight confusion covering her gaze for a second before she shook her head. 

“Kurt Marko, Charles’ step-father was a nuclear scientist. He worked with Charles’ father before he died. He married Sharon not long after. He was intelligent, but not nice. Charles made it so people believed that I was his sister, but it took a lot of effort on his part, so he said it was easier if I just avoided the Markos altogether. We never ate as a family anyway and the manor’s huge, obviously, so it wasn’t too hard,” Raven explained. 

“What was Cain like?” Erik asked, and Raven looked slightly lost again before replying. 

“He was annoying,” she finally said. “He’d push Charles around and sneer at me, but nothing too intense. He wasn’t all that bright,” Raven recalled. “He was jealous of Charles because he could understand more of Kurt’s work, though it’s not like Kurt appreciated that,” she said with a bitter edge to her tone. 

“Curt didn’t like Charles?” Erik asked, and Raven nodded. 

“He only married Sharon for the money, and he knew that Charles was on to him from the start. I’d hear them fighting sometimes.” 

“Did he still work as a scientist? Even after inheriting the Xavier estate?” Erik asked and Raven nodded. 

“He was working on some government project. Something to do with mutants I think… Charles didn’t want me anywhere near it. He worked extra hard to make sure that Kurt just looked through me. He was aware that I was there, it would be too tiring for Charles to do otherwise, but it was as if I was nothing more than a maid. Luckily Kurt was often at the lab working on his project, so we could both relax a bit.” Erik nodded, his brow furrowed. 

“Erik, what is this about?” Raven asked. Erik looked around as if worried about being watched before looking forward. 

“Raven, I’m going to ask you something and I need you to be fully honest,” he began, “did the Markos ever hurt Char-”    
  


“That’s enough,” a voice rang through Erik’s mind like a gunshot, and he flinched at the sudden sound. He looked back up at Raven, but she just looked slightly dazed. 

“Raven?” he asked, but she just looked through him before turning and walking out of the room, her movements slow and fluid as if she were half asleep. 

“Charles, what did you do?” Erik demanded, but he was ignored. 

“That is quite enough. I think that we both have more important things to be thinking about,” Charles said stiffly, his presence overwhelming Erik’s mind before vanishing entirely. Erik stayed rooted to the floor for a moment before making his way out of the classroom. He had a sinking feeling that Charles wouldn’t go so far as to break into Raven’s mind to stop Erik from gaining any more information unless Erik’s hunch was correct, or at least partly so. He was only halfway to his room before his mind was entered once again, this time by an unfamiliar presence. He felt the shields he had worked into his mind tighten of someone else’s accord and the broken tatters of where Charles had forced through being mended back together. 

“Back library. Now,” a female voice said. Erik obeyed. 

The library seemed completely empty when Erik arrived, and it wasn’t until he had sat down at the table that he noticed the red-haired telepath that Peter was friends with standing in between two shelves. Jean Grey, he thought her name was. 

“Erik. I wondered when we’d talk face to face,” she said after a moment, stepping forward. 

“Why am I here?” Erik demanded. 

“Because the Professor is scared,” she stated. “He was already scared, but your stunt with Raven seems to have pushed him over the edge. I’ve never seen him lose control like that,” she said. 

“Lose control?” Erik prompted. 

“I was with him when he realized what you were doing. We were working on mental shields when suddenly he just froze. His mind, it… I don’t even know how to describe it. It just shot out and first shot through your shields like a bullet before fogging over Raven’s mind and sending her back to her room. He sent me away right after.” Erik let the information sink in before looking back up at Jean Grey, who was still staring emotionlessly back down at him. 

“So what am I doing here?” He asked. 

“If I know anything about you, it’s that you won’t stop until you’re satisfied, even if it means breaking the professor’s back all over again,” she stated. Erik flinched but knew deep down that he couldn’t deny it. He had already been making plans to get his helmet and talk to Raven again, Charles’ reaction be damned. 

“When Charles had his breakdown, our minds were still connected. I saw the memories that came to the forefront of his mind. I saw all of them,” she said. “I know that you are probably the only person now that can help the professor, and so I am going to give it to you,” she said. Erik opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly he was being pushed back in his chair, her hand pressing hard against his forehead. His eyes widened, and then there was darkness. 

~

_ ‘He’s using her for the money. It’s so obvious’ he thinks as he watches that woman with the bleach blonde hair walk down the aisle in an elaborate wedding dress to a man in an equally fancy suit. Raven squeezes his hand beside him, seeming to understand his stress. The boy on his other side, his new brother, just stares ahead with a stony expression. ‘He just wants the money.’ Still, his mother doesn’t know that, and she seems happy. So long as she’s happy, he can cope. He can do it.  _

_ He can smell alcohol again. He used to hate the smell, but he’s getting used to it. Raven is out studying at the library, which gives him a small relief from the constant throbbing at the back of his head that spawns from the near-constant use of his powers. He sometimes wishes he could make himself be strong enough to keep them both out of his step-families gaze, but he cannot. Still, he can live with a bit of ruff housing from his step-brother and father if it means Raven is at least out of their clutches. He winces when he moves his shoulder wrong, a dark bruise blooming across his back from where Cain slammed him against the wall. There is a similar-looking one covering his cheekbone. He’ll have to make sure that no one sees it. If he can make Raven disappear from his family's eyes, then he can make one bruise disappear from hers. He can do it.  _

_ There is only pain. Fiery strips of it rain down on his back. His shoulders, his neck, and sides. He bits down hard on the sleeve of the shirt he’d been forced to shed. No one can hear him. No one can know. If Raven knew, she’d feel guilty, and he couldn’t let that happen. If Cain knew he’d feel challenged to up his game, which was equally unwanted. Sharon would be too far gone to care at that point, but he still didn’t want her to hear. Didn’t want to have to watch her ignore his cries, and so he stays silent. Not because Kurt told him to, but because he had to. When it’s over he lets himself fall on the library floor. He can do nothing but feel; feel the belt being dropped uncaringly on his prone form and the vibration of footsteps walking away. The hot liquid pouring down his cheeks in rivulets as a thicker liquid does the same down his back. When Raven gets back from the library that night, he is already in bed, and when she sees him the next morning he is wearing as many layers as he can. The pain will come again he knows, but he doesn’t let himself live in fear of it. He’s accepted it as a part of life and knows that whenever he senses the dark cloud around Kurt Marko’s thoughts, he is in danger. Still, he can do it. As long as it doesn’t kill him, he can do it.  _

_ Raven sees the scars and she screams. Her eyes widen at the blood and Charles thinks she might faint, but she doesn’t. Her eyes well with tears but before she can let them fall he is in her mind. He’s soothing over the jagged memories that he just created with his carelessly unlocked door, and glazes over the yelling that she had heard earlier that had made her worried enough to come into his room. She leaves quietly as if she had done nothing more than coming in to say goodnight. He cries that night, ugly sobs that force themselves from his body and into his pillow, and he hides himself from the view of the others so that they won’t hear. All except his mother. He knows she can hear him from her room down the hall. She just doesn’t come. He cries until there’s nothing left except pained noises as he forces his lungs to take in air. He’s done this before and he knows he’ll do it again. He can do it. He can do it. He can- _

_ ~ _

Erik stared up at Jean Grey, his mind reeling as he exited the memories. Jean wasn’t looking at him though, she was staring wide-eyed at something behind him. He turned slowly to see something he thought he’d never see again. Charles Xavier was standing in the doorway of the library, no wheelchair in sight. His hair was brushed and clean, and he was wearing a suit like he used to. Erik’s mind flashed back to Emma Frost and her projections, and he realized that this wasn’t Charles. He could throw a book at the man’s head like he had considered doing so many times in the past, and it would just go straight through him. 

“How dare you,” he whispered. Erik couldn’t tell which of them he was talking to, but he felt his mind shrinking back either way, even as Jean’s shields strengthened around him. He realized with a start that Charles could very well break through them if he pleased and take back what was rightfully his. The memories which Erik should never have seen. 

“Charles,” Erik whispered, but suddenly he couldn’t speak. He hadn’t even realized that Charles had gotten into his mind and from the look of shock on Jean’s face, neither had she. There had been no violent outburst this time, no vicious tearing apart of the shields, he’d just slid through the cracks that Erik had subconsciously left open for him. 

Erik could feel the chaos of Charles’ mind against his own, and could now see why no one ever wanted to stay in his own mind for long. Why Emma had asked for quiet. The chaos hurt. Charles indecision and fear reared up and Erik’s thoughts shrank back in response, the stolen memories remaining frozen at the forefront of his mind. Charles’ swarmed around them, but Erik could feel him holding back, not quite taking the back, but not quite leaving them either. 

“Charles, you don’t want to do this,” Jean Grey’s voice rang out soothingly through both of their minds. 

“I know you’re angry, and hurt, and betrayed, but that was me, not him. It’s one thing to remove the memories from my mind, but he didn’t do anything wrong, I took the memories and gave them to him. He didn’t ask me to. If you take them from him, you will be crossing a line. A line that you promised yourself you’d never cross again,” Jean warned. 

Just like that, Charles was gone, the memories still intact in Erik’s mind. The metal bender was breathing hard when he was brought back to consciousness, the shock of what had just happened catching up with him. 

“I’m so sorry,” Jean was saying. “I thought I could help, that if you knew then you’d be able to help him-”    
  


“What happened to him, where did he go?” Erik interrupted. 

“He’s where he always is,” Jean said, “but I wouldn’t go running in there right now. He’s not himself, Erik, this is too big a shock for him. He needs time.” 

~

Charles lay awake, panting as his mind spun out of control. He had panicked when he’d heard Raven’s confused thoughts over Erik’s questions, and had acted rashly. Perhaps if he’d thought his action through and just had Raven give Erik normal answers than the metal bender would have stopped digging, but no, he’d had to panic instead. 

He curled in on himself and let out a low moan, his hands tangling in his hair and pulling his head down towards his chest. His heartbeat sounded uneven to his slightly ringing ears, and he wondered idly whether or not he was going to have a heart attack. The silence of the room seemed to grow around him and the shadows and light blurred together until he was positive his step-father was standing at the end of his bed with Charles’ own belt in his hands. Kurt had liked to make him go fetch the belt himself from his own drawers and made him clean it and put it back for humiliation. It tended to work. 

Charles didn’t hear the high, keening sound he made as he burrowed further in on himself, the ringing in his ears gradually turning ot voices. 

_ “She isn’t going to come to help you, why would she help her freak son?”  _

_ A belt, pain, blood. _

_ He was shoved to the ground and kicked in the side. _

_ He was pushed into a wall and slapped across the face.  _

_ He was begging his mother to wake up.  _

_ “You want it to stop, then you do as I say.”  _

_ He could barely breathe from the pain. He probably fractured a rib.  _

_ Kurt had let his father die. Now he was letting his mother die.  _

_ There was no part of his back left unmarked. _

_ “You want it to stop, make the good council member vote in my favor.”  _

_ More pain.  _

_ More blood.  _

_ A room full of people in chairs, their minds wide open and unguarded.  _

_ Choked off crying in a dark attic.  _

_ A quick intrusion and re-arrangement of a few thoughts and decisions.  _

_ The repeat of a cycle.  _

~

Charles was whimpering as his mind danced around him, all control just out of his reach. He was barely aware of throwing u over the side of the bed, or digging his nails so deep into his scalp it bled. He was slightly more aware of the feeling of drifting, and the tight embrace that held him as he fell out of consciousness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, Erik thinks that someone forced Charles to do something with his powers that he didn't want to in the past (which is true) because of his strong reaction to Erik victim-blaming the mutant responsible for taking away mutant's abilities during the attack. He tries to get information about the Marko's from Raven, but Charles hears their thoughts and panics, making Raven just see through Erik and just return to her room. 
> 
> Jean Grey, who saw all of the traumatic memories that Erik and Raven's conversation brought up in Charles nad sensing that he is now unstable, shows the memories to Erik in an attempt to make him understand what the professor needs because she thinks Erik is the only person that can help him. In the memories, Erik sees Charles being physically and mentally abused by his step-family while his mother is to far gone to care, and he uses his powers to make sure that they don't see Raven, and that she doesn't see his suffering. Charles finds out what Jean is doing though, and breaks into Erik's mind to try and take back the memories before leaving them untouched after Jean reminds him that he would be crossing a line he "promised himself he'd never cross again." 
> 
> Back in his room, Charles has a panic attack, and it is revealed in a flashback sequence that his step-father beat him into submission and forced him to use his powers to make a government council approve a project we don't yet know the contents of, and give him money.


	8. I Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up, Charles and Erik talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... I have no excuse. The last update was during December break. It's now March. I am sorry.

When Peter awoke, it was to the sight of Jean and Alex at his bedside, both looking anxiously down on him. 

“Peter, man can you hear us? Can he hear us?” Alex asked, turning to Jean. 

“He should be fully aware,” she replied. “His mental functions are all back online.” 

“My ‘mental functions’? What the dick does that mean?” Peter demanded. 

“You’ve been unconscious for a week now,” Jean explained. “Do you remember your mission with Logan, Lisa, and Ororo?” she asked. Peter thought back. He could remember being in the forest looking for any clue as to what was hunting mutants, and then the soldiers in black. “We used your surface memories to see what happened, but they should be undamaged.” 

“Ororo- where’s Ororo?” he asked. 

“Gone,” Alex said. “Whoever they were, they took her. Logan and Lisa barely got you back here. The professor believes that they are using a mutant who has the ability to block other mutant powers. That’s why none of us can find him with telepathy, and why all of your powers were out of commission,” he explained. 

“Are they back in commission now?” Peter asked in a panic. 

“Yes,” Jean quickly assured him, “well, once you get the cast off at least,” she clarified, making Peter look down at his still-broken leg.   
“The younger ones have been in to see you,” Alex said when Peter raised his eyebrows at the sight of all the signatures. 

“So has Erik,” Jean added. “The professor was here as well.” 

“How are Lisa and Logan?” Peter asked. 

“They’re okay. A bit bruised in the pride, but otherwise fine. Lisa’s been fuming ever since one of them had the audacity to punch her in the face, and Logan’s been extra grumbly,” Alex reported. 

“How’s the professor?” Peter asked. Jean and Alex both shared a look before the telepath opened her mouth to speak. 

“He’s not left his room in three days,” she said, looking down. “Erik’s with him. Hank and Raven have been in and out.”

“What happened?” Peter asked. He knew that the professor was quite reclusive as was, but the way Jean and Alex were acting suggested something far more than his usual antisocial behavior. 

“He’s… working through some stuff,” Alex said. Peter wanted to ask more questions, but Alex stood up. “Erik wanted to know when you work up, I should go tell him. No one needs him in a worse mood than he already is,” Alex said, quickly striding out of the room. Jean and Peter sat in awkward silence for a few moments before Peter finally spoke. 

“Well that was clearly an attempt to avoid conversation,” he said. 

“He wasn’t lying, Erik’s been pestering everyone about getting you to wake up. The professor and I have been working on your mind all week.” 

“How is Erik? Still moody?” Peter asked. 

“Obviously,” Jean replied. “I used to think that his entire emotional range is just a spectrum of moodiness, ranging from ‘slightly bitter’ to ‘full-on Grinch’.” 

“Where’s he at now?” Peter asked. 

“Well, that’s the thing. I said that’s what I used to think. Now I’m not so sure… he’s been just sitting with the professor for the past three days and helping him work through… well everything, and before that he was sitting in here with you waiting for you to wake up. I’d say he’s somewhere between ‘protective father’, and ‘worried boyfriend’,” she said casually. They stared at each other for a moment before bursting out in laughter. 

“Can you imagine if he heard you say that!” Peter crowed, thumping the side of his mattress. 

“I’d say it’s quite accurate,” Jean grinned. “He should be down to see you soon, he’s just helping the professor. I figured you might want this while you wait,” she said tossing him a stack of comic books kept together with a rubber band. “I got them while I was at the mall with Scott. He said you’d like them.” 

“Awesome! Tell Scott he did a good job with the selection!” Peter said enthusiastically as he opened the one on the top.

~

Erik sat beside Charles in the professor’s room as he had been for the past three days. Erik had found Charles shaking and crying on his bed, his blankets tangled around him, and the side of his bed stained with vomit. It had been frightening, to see him so out of control. Still, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as the conversation that had inevitably followed when the telepath woke up. 

“Charles,” Erik said, staring at the seemingly sleeping professor. “Charles, I know you’re awake, and I know that you can hear me. You’re a terrible faker,” he said. After a moment of silence, Charles opened his eyes with a small sigh but made no move to talk to or look at Erik. 

“You should drink something, you lost fluid when you threw up,” he said, levitating a metal glass within Charles’ reach. The telepath made no move to accept the offered cup. 

“Charles, Hank said to make you drink. It’s either this or an IV,” he threatened. Wordlessly, Charles accepted the cup. He downed all the water it held before leaning back against his pillow and setting his gaze back on the ceiling, looking anywhere but at Erik. 

“Charles, I’m sorry,” Erik forced himself to say. He knew that while he still would have come upon the same knowledge he now possessed on his own, he and Jean had had no right to view Charles’ memories as they had. 

“For what?” Charles asked. His voice sounded rough, and Erik didn’t miss the way the other man winced slightly. “Are you sorry you saw my private memories? Are you sorry for me? Are you sorry that you ever put your faith in someone so pathetic? Clarify, my friend, because the phrase alone holds very little meaning,” Charles said emotionlessly. 

“I-for everything. Except for the last part,” Erik replied. 

“Did anyone know?” Erik asked finally. “Did anyone know what happened?” 

“My mother knew,” Charles said, and Erik regretted his phrasing. He’d meant people that Charles had confided in, not people who did nothing to stop it from happening. 

“My step-brother too. Raven didn’t. Well, she did briefly, but not now,” he said in that same, emotionless voice. 

“She’s worried about you,” Erik said. 

“What does she know?” Charles asked, and this time Erik could have sworn he picked up on fear in his voice. 

“I didn’t tell her anything she didn’t already know,” he said. “She always suspected, Charles. Your mental block had just stopped her from thinking about it.” Charles took a shaky breath but didn’t say anything else. Erik decided that if this conversation was going to happen, he would need to be the driving force behind it. 

“It’s why you want to protect that mutant, isn’t it,” he stated. “Because your step-father made you do things with your powers that hurt other mutants. That you didn’t want to do.” There was a moment's pause before Charles replied. 

“The project that my step-father was working on involved mutant test subjects. A lot of them. The government had no plans of funding it, and he knew that. He told me to change their minds with my abilities. He said that if I did that for him I wouldn’t be one of the subjects, and so I did it. There are hundreds of our kind dead because of me. Because I was too scared to save them and helped him kill them instead,” he choked out. 

Erik was conflicted. Had he discovered this at any other time he would have been furious with Charles. He would have yelled, and probably accidentally warped all the metal in the room while shouting insults and storming out before the other man could get a word in, helmet on his head. Now though, after what he saw. What he felt in Charles’ memories… he couldn’t do it. 

“If I let you kill that mutant, then I might as well hand you a gun right now,” he continued. 

“I’m not going to kill the mutant,” Erik said. “We need to stop him, but we don’t need to hurt him. He can come here and you and Hank can do what you and Hank do best,” he said. Charles didn’t say anything and after a few minutes, Erik realized that he was crying. Erik had never been good at the whole ‘comfort’ thing, but he had a feeling that he was going to have to figure it out real fast. 

He got up from his chair and sat down on the bed, tucking an arm around the other and pulling him against his chest. 

“I don’t want to remember,” Charles whispered. 

“But you have to.” 

“I want to make myself forget.” 

“But you can’t.” 

Erik let Charles cry until he had settled down, and didn’t complain when he felt the other man fall into an uneasy sleep against him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as well. This was going to be hard. 

Similar discussions had taken place the following days, each one ending in a similar fashion. Erik would occasionally ask questions and Charles would either answer or not. If he couldn’t, then that was that. Erik didn’t push him. He wasn’t sure what the students were thinking, but Raven and Azazel assured him that the older mutants were doing everything they could to make everything seem normal for the younger ones. Given how little the professor was ever out and about, they hadn’t noticed much of a change. They probably would have thought everything was completely normal if it hadn’t been for the empaths at the manor who picked up on Charles’ distress and Erik’s fear. 

The only times that Erik had left Charles’ room were when he’d go down to check on Peter, who had remained stubbornly unconscious. It was these trips that resulted in him meeting some of Charles’ older students. Jean Gray would often be sitting by Peter’s bedside trying to cox his mind into responding, and Scott and Kurt were often present as well. His most interesting encounters by far had been with Logan. 

The first time they had run into each other had been awkward, to say the least. Both had sat on opposite sides of Peter’s cot, neither sure what to make of the other. It was Logan surprisingly enough, who spoke first.

“You’re his father, right?” he asked gruffly. Erik stared at the other man in shock. 

“How did you-”

“You have the same smirk and eyes,” he said, “that and besides the professor, he’s the only person here that you seem to give damn about other than your posse,” he added. Erik sighed and nodded. 

“Yes, he is my son.” 

“He know yet?” Logan asked, jerking his head at Peter. 

“No,” Erik replied. 

“Is he going to?” Logan pressed. Erik wasn’t sure. He thought he had a good relationship going with Peter, and he wouldn’t want to ruin that. Besides, would Peter even want him as a father? After everything that had happened? He didn’t know. 

That conversation had been days ago, and Erik still didn’t know the answer. That was why when Alex came in and told Erik that Peter was awake, he was terrified. Charles was asleep at the moment, so he couldn’t count on any support from him, and Alex had no idea about his internal turmoil as he was unaware of Erik’s connection to Peter. 

“Alright, how is he?” Erik asked as they headed down to the infirm. 

“He seems alright,” Alex answered. “His leg is still healing, so he won’t do much running right now, but Scott got him some comic books so he’ll be entertained.” Erik nodded, his mind working too quickly to form a proper response as they entered the infirm. 

Jean Gray was laughing with Peter, who had a comic book laying open on his lap. Both looked up when Erik and Alex entered. 

“Hey!” Peter said, waving enthusiastically. “Guess who’s awake!” he added, gesturing to himself. 

“How are you feeling?” Erik managed to force out. 

“Pretty great,” Peter reported, “though I can’t really go anywhere, or do anything…” 

“Well you’re doing a great job of annoying us,” Jean said jokingly. 

“I can do that,” Peter agreed. “Jean was filling me in on some of the stuff I missed; is it true that you’re, like, social now?” he asked Erik. Erik glanced at Jean who gave him a look that said, he doesn’t know about Charles, and you aren’t going to tell him. 

“I’ve spoken to a few more people than I generally would have liked,” Erik agreed. 

“I heard you even talked to Logan without him trying to kill you. Congrats!” Peter said. Erik nodded. Things between him and Logan were far less tense now that they both shared the common goal of making sure that Peter was okay. The two would sit in companionable silence by Peter’s bedside without making Charles and Jean watch them through telepathy to make sure no fights broke out. 

Erik knew that he should ask to talk alone with Peter. THat he should tell him the truth about who he was, but at the last moment he took the cowards way out. 

“Do you think you’ll be well enough to join the rest of the school for dinner?” he asked. 

“Oh definitely,” Peter replied, “Lisa’s making spaghetti and meatballs, there’s no way I’m missing that!” 

“Good. I’ll be there too,” Erik said. Erik stayed until Peter got too tired to continue with a conversation, and left the infirm with Jean and Alex. 

“You should check in with the professor,” Jean said, “he’s awake now. I can let Raven know that Peter woke up once she finishes up her class, and when Azazel and Kurt get back I’ll let them know as well,” she promised. 

“Where are Azazel and Kurt?” Erik asked. He’d been so busy he realized that he hadn’t stopped to wonder where the teleporter was. 

“Training. Azazel said he was going to help Kurt work on a few things he’s been having trouble with. It’s good that they found each other,” she explained. Erik nodded and headed back up to Charles’ room. 

~

“Is he doing alright?” Charles asked, and Erik nodded. 

“He’s sleeping now, but he seemed fine when I was talking to him. Jean and Alex were with him when he woke up, and Scott bought him comic books,” he reported. “How are you doing?” Charles sighed. 

“As I said before, I’m fine. It’s just a lot to take in. You really don’t need to be here for all of this,” he said. 

“I do. It’s my fault for pushing,” Erik replied shortly. “I can get Raven if you’d rather-” 

“No,” Charles said firmly. “No, let Raven teach. She’s been enjoying herself, there’s no point in ruining her fun on my behalf.” He had remained adamant in his desire for Raven to remain oblivious to his pain, past and present. Though Erik had told him with exasperation that she basically already knew, Charles would hear none of it. If Raven were to know, it would break him. 

“Are you planning on telling Peter?” Charles asked, and Erik rubbed his temples. 

“I don’t know. I’m going to have dinner with the rest of the school, so maybe I’ll tell him then. I don’t know,” he mumbled. Charles smiled. 

“That’s good, Erik! Some time with the others will do you good!” Erik rolled his eyes. 

“Says the man who's been locked in his room hiding for the past year,” he grumbled. “Why don’t you join us? I'm sure the students could use some good news. Meeting the elusive Professor X would be exciting.” Charles just shook his head. 

“They need something to believe in now more than ever, and that something needs to be more than just a pathetic crippled man who can’t even handle his own memories,” Charles said bitterly. 

“Don’t say that,” Erik snapped. 

“It’s true!” Charles yelled. 

“No. It. Isn’t,” Erik growled, shocking the other man with the fierceness behind his words. “No, it isn’t. I saw what you went through- felt what you went through, and yet you were still the most optimistic person I had ever seen when we first met. I shot you in the spine and left you for dead, taking your sister with me, and you still kept going. Then you took us in without a question when we showed up at your doorstep because that’s just what you do. You help the broken, and you save the unsavable,” Erik was yelling now, and Charles just stared at him with wide eyes. 

“You are everything,” Erik said, quieter this time, sitting down beside Charles. He leaned in and gently pressed a kiss to the other man’s forehead, relishing in the warmth as Charles slid his arms around him. 

“They won’t think you’re weak, Charles,” Erik murmured softly in the other man's hair. “Please, I don’t think I can do this without you.” 

“Alright,” he finally relented. “I’ll go to dinner.”


	9. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dinner happens, and Erik is forced to talk to Peter. Charles thinks that things could definitely be worse.

If Erik had thought that Peter was talkative before, it was nothing compared to how he was now that he couldn’t take out his energy with running. His mouth seemed to be able to move as quickly as his feet, and he could manage to make an entire conversation about pretty much any topic, whether it was worth the words or not. 

“So, you think you’ll stay for the whole meal? I mean, I know you don’t like people, but they probably won’t talk to you too much if you don’t want them to. One glare from you and they’ll be silent for weeks!” Peter exclaimed, and Erik cracked half a smile at that. 

“I promised the Professor that I would stay through the duration of the meal,” he replied. Charles had decided that he would stay at the meal for as long as Erik did. That way if Erik wanted him to stay for the whole time, he would be forced to as well. 

“Why would the professor care if you stayed the whole time?” Peter asked, and it was then that Erik realized what he’d said. They hadn’t told any of the students that the professor would be at dinner that night. It was meant to be a surprise. 

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” Peter began when Erik opened his mouth to try to come up with some sort of excuse. “Is the professor going to be at dinner?” Peter asked excitedly. Erik nodded. 

“Seriously? How are you manage to get him to do that?” he demanded. “The professor never goes anywhere!” 

“I told him I’d go as long as he did as well,” Erik said simply, and Peter stared at him with a look of awe on his face. 

“This is going to be one HELL of a dinner. You, the professor, Lisa’s spaghetti and meatballs… I don’t think this night could get any crazier if the cops showed up! Do the other’s know yet?” 

“No,” Erik said with a shake of his head. “You’re not supposed to know either, so don’t go telling them,” he warned, and Peter mimed zipping his lips just as Jean walked into the room. 

“Dinner’s almost ready,” she said in lieu of a greeting. “Lisa told me to let you know to be in the dining hall in ten minutes.” She glanced at Erik as well, and he got the feeling that she already knew that he was expected at the meal as well. 

~

Charles hadn’t really given much thought to what it would feel like to fly, but levitating a few feet above the stairs in a metal wheelchair was not it. 

“Are you sure this is the best idea?” Charles asked, gripping the armrests of the chair as it tipped slightly. 

“Charles, you’ve seen me lift a submarine out of the ocean. Do you really think I can’t handle one wheelchair?” Erik demanded. Charles huffed, but let the point drop as Erik continued to levitate his chair down the stairs and towards the dining room. 

“It’s going to be fine,” Charles said. Whether it was for himself or for Erik, the metal bender wasn’t sure. 

“Yes it will,” he agrees. Erik slowly lowered the chair to the ground once they reached the bottom of the stairs. 

“You should really get an elevator,” Erik noted. 

“Why? I have you, don’t I?” Charles pointed out, looking sidelong at the other man who only huffed in response and tried very hard not to smile. He almost succeeded. Their banter faltered when they reached the doors to the dining hall. 

“We’re here,” Erik stated. 

“Indeed we are,” Charles agreed, making no move to enter. 

“Is everyone already inside?” Erik asked. He wasn’t sure how he felt about making a dramatic entrance by being the last ones there, but he certainly didn’t want to be the first either. 

“Just a few are seated,” Charles said, reaching out with his mind to check. “Peter and Jean are there along with some of the younger children, Scott, and Logan.” Erik nodded. 

“Well it will only get worse the longer we wait,” he pointed out, and Charles nodded in agreement. 

“Shall we?” 

~

Peter was talking animatedly with Jean when suddenly she froze, looking at something over his shoulder before whispering a quick, ‘act surprised!’. Peter turned around to see what she was looking at and felt his eyes go wide. He had known that Erik and the professor were going to be coming to dinner that night, but somehow hearing about it was different than actually seeing it happen. 

Charles looked quite nervous and Peter imagined that Erik was as well, though he was just glowering like he usually did. 

“Dude, close your mouth,” Scott whispered, and Peter somehow managed to unlock his jaw from where it was hanging open. 

“Is that… the professor?” someone whispered. 

“Who else could it be?” another responded. 

“Why do you think he’s in a wheelchair-”

“Is he friends with Magneto-?”

“I wonder why he’s here, he’s never seen-” 

Charles sat at the table by Logan, and, when she came out, Lisa. Erik made his way over to where Peter and Jean were and sat down silently. More and more people began to show up, and the whispers would start anew with every wave. They all seemed to come to the same conclusion- Professor X and Magneto were sitting at their dinner table. 

“Like, I get that you told me you were coming, but for some reason I still just can’ comprehend it,” Peter said finally. Erik grunted in agreement. 

“I’m beginning to regret it,” he admitted. 

“No one regrets Lisa’s spaghetti and meatballs,” Peter argued. 

“They really are the best,” Scott agreed as the food was passed in their direction. 

“How does she make this much?” Erik asked. 

“Well the kitchen staff helps her… she just handles the sauce and spices and stuff,” Peter explained. Erik nodded and took a tentative bite. He hated admitting that anything Lisa Dorian created was good, but it was delicious. He looked up and saw Lisa looking at him with a smug expression. 

The meal seemed to be going normally, though there were plenty of people continuously glancing at Charles and Erik. The professor seemed to be doing quite well at ignoring the looks and was talking softly with Raven about something. Erik wondered what they were talking about. 

“So, why did you decide to come?” Peter asked suddenly. This was it, Erik thought, hands clenching in his lap. The perfect opportunity to tell him the truth. He glanced up quickly and caught Jean staring at him with a look that said ‘you tell him, or I will’. 

“I, uh, I actually have to talk to you about something,” he Erik said slowly. He noticed that the attention of both Scott, and the younger children sitting near them seemed to have suddenly drifted away from him and Peter, and Erik had no doubt that it was Jean’s doing. 

“What’s up?” Peter asked, seemingly unaware of Erik’s turmoil. 

“You lived with your mother, correct?” Erik asked, deciding it would be good to ease into the discussion. 

“Yup, just me and Mom,” Peter agreed. 

“Did she ever talk about your father? Did you know him?” Erik asked. It was entirely possible that Peter’s mother had told the boy that he was fathered by someone else once she realized who Erik really was. No one should have to carry the burden of being related to someone that the government had labeled a terrorist. 

“No,” Peter said after a moment's thought, “she just said that she hadn’t known him well. Once I was old enough to know what a one night stand was she explained it to me,” he said. 

“He was a mutant,” Erik said. “You inherited your genes from him.” Peter perked up at this. 

“You knew him?” he asked, and Erik had to force his breathing to remain even. It was a losing battle. 

“I am him.” Peter stared at him and blinked. 

“You’re- wait, what?” he asked. 

“I didn’t know that she was pregnant, I would have found you earlier if I’d known-” Erik began. 

“Wait, wait, wait, back it up to the part where you’re my fricken father? What? Did you know that this whole time? Did my MOM know that this whole time? What about the professor, does he know? Did he bring me here so that you wouldn’t attack the school when you two were still feuding?” Peter asked, his words stringing together as he stumbled over question after question. Erik was incredibly grateful to Jean for keeping everybody’s minds distracted from them 

“The professor didn’t know who you were when he took you in, and even if he did it, you wouldn’t just be there for security,” Erik said. “I figured it out after our first few meetings. The name Maximoff sounded familiar, I just couldn’t remember from where. When you said your mom knew someone who could bend metal, it all came back to me,” he answered next. 

“So my mom did know,” Peter clarified, and Erik nodded. “And she didn’t tell me?” he looked crestfallen. Erik had had a feeling that this was coming, but it still hurt. 

“Well, I imagine she didn’t want you to have to live with the fact that you’re related to a terrorist-” 

“I’m related to a word-class criminal and she didn’t fricken tell me? We could have pulled off so many heists!” Peter complained. “You can move metal, do you know how many TVs we could have stolen? IT would have been awesome! Damn it, Mom, you ruined my childhood!” 

Erik just stared. 

“That went surprisingly well,” Charles’ voice resonated in his mind, and Erik realized that Jean most-likely was unable to keep Charles’ mind distracted with whatever trick she’d used on the others. 

“You heard us?” Erik thought back, looking across the table to where Charles was seemingly still in deep conversation with Raven and Alex. 

“Every word,” Charles laughed back in his mind. 

“And it seems your night is going fine,” Erik thought back as Peter continued to list off all the wasted opportunities. Erik had to admit, making a levitating, steel, bunker, and flying around the neighborhood pretending to be aliens did sound quite entertaining. 

“It is… not as bad as it could have been,” he admitted. “I’ll hate to have to ruin the atmosphere, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to discuss what’s been happening. Everyone has a lot of questions,” he added, mental voice sombering. Erik knew he was right, but hated that fact all the same. Why couldn’t they have one goddamn evening? He shook his head and turned his attention back to Peter. For now, they were safe, and Erik supposed he could be content with that.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it!


End file.
